Rep. Boebert Stands Up for Colorado's Ag Community

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Lauren Boebert announced her cosponsorship of H.R. 7468, legislation that protects the livelihoods of Colorado and America’s farmers and ranchers by empowering the Secretary of State and U.S. diplomats to take action to ensure Mexico complies with the 1944 Treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande and provides America with its rightful share of water.

“Our Colorado agriculture community is responsible for putting food on the table and providing good jobs for Coloradans and Americans, but many of our state’s producers are in danger of being priced out by foreign competitors because of unfair water practices in Mexico,” stated Congresswoman Boebert (CO-03). “Mexico is not meeting its obligations to provide 570 billion gallons of water to the U.S. and this is having devastating consequences on America’s ranchers and farmers. Legislation I’ve cosponsored empowers the Secretary of State and U.S. diplomats to take action to ensure Mexico complies with the 1944 Treaty in order to level the playing field for our ranchers and farmers. Now more than ever, our Colorado agriculture producers need us to have their backs and let them know we won’t let Mexico steal water they are entitled to and put them out of business.”

“Without the consistent water needed to grow crops as mandated by the 1944 treaty, agriculture producers across Colorado and the United States are in danger of being forced out of the marketplace and closing down their livelihoods,” said Greg Yielding, Executive Vice President of the National Onion Association. “We are thankful for Congresswoman Boebert for taking action and bringing attention to this important issue impacting agriculture producers across Colorado and America.” 

Joe Petrocco, Vice President, Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association stated, “Mexico has only provided a small fraction of the water in recent years that it is supposed to send to the U.S. under the 1944 treaty. Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers shouldn’t face further harm because Mexico doesn’t want to honor this historic treaty, especially when America is honoring our obligations and sending them nearly five times the water they are supposed to be sending back to us. These unfair water practices are further compounded when you consider Mexico doesn't have the same safety standards and regulations, giving their producers other competitive advantages. I applaud Congresswoman Boebert for taking action to protect Colorado’s farmers.”

Background

The Treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, was signed on February 3, 1944, to provide predictable and reliable future deliveries of water for both the United States and Mexico. Under the treaty, the U.S. is required to send 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico from the Colorado River every year. Mexico is supposed to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. every five years from the Rio Grande.

Currently, Mexico is failing to comply with this treaty and ensure the U.S. gets its share of the water to which we are entitled to, giving Mexican agricultural producers an unfair advantage over American agricultural producers. H.R. 7468 seeks to ensure the fair treatment of agriculture producers across Colorado and the United States, a key industry responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars for Colorado’s economy.

Mexico’s noncompliant water practices have allowed the state of Chihuahua to build up their agricultural dominance and exponentially increase the amount of crops they produce and sell over the past two decades, endangering American producers in Texas, Colorado, and across the United States. Without action by the U.S. to ensure Mexico complies with this treaty, many in the American agriculture community fear our producers will no longer be able to survive.

In the case of America’s $1.5 billion onion industry, these unfair water practices have enabled more Mexico onion producers to unfairly compete with U.S. growers. According to Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) World, the United States imported $451 million in onions from Mexico in 2022, making it the largest importer of onions to the U.S. ahead of China, Canada, Peru and Spain combined. OEC reports that in January 2024, Mexican onion imports to the U.S. grew by 11.2%.

Both H.R. 7468 and S. 2969 call for U.S. diplomats to force Mexico’s compliance with the 1944 treaty.

Colorado has 38,900 farms and ranches encompassing 32 million acres in Colorado. Agriculture generates $47 billion annually for our state’s economy and supports more than 195,000 jobs. Colorado is home to over 4.5 million head of cattle. Colorado’s livestock producers have also suffered significant harm as a result of Mexico's failure to comply with the 1944 treaty. Congresswoman Boebert is a big supporter of Colorado’s agriculture community. Read more about her efforts HERE.