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Article: Rio Grande Valley Drought Sparks Friction Between Texas, Mexico.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- March 28, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Mar. 26--MERCEDES, Texas--Debts and lost crops are mounting in the Rio Grande Valley, but farmers here don't blame the current drought on nature. They blame it on Mexico.
Never mind that Texas' southern neighbor says it's enduring its worst drought in nearly 50 years. Darrell Duda says he's picking up the tab for Mexico's failure to live up to its end of a bi-national water treaty.
Two years ago, the Mercedes sugar cane farmer leased 850 acres of fertile lowland along the Rio Grande, which supports a better-than-$2 billion agricultural industry. Today he can only use 300 acres for lack of water.
And he still must make $55,000 in lease payments ...