This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. This story, reported with a grant from The Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder, is published in partnership with the El Paso Times.
By late August, the usual monsoon rains had scarcely materialized in this region of Chihuahua, one of the driest states in Mexico. The reservoir at La Boquilla dam was dipping lower and lower, deepening farmers’ anxiety about how they would plant their pecan, alfalfa and chile crops next spring.
Local officials in this northern Mexican town were stewing for an additional reason. Would administrators in Mexico City opt to share that precious water with the United States to fulfill a bilateral treaty? And if they did, would local farmers rise up again in protest?
