2... photos on Flickr

We spent the day up the river visiting mum and dad at their camping spot. And what a spot it was!! The water was amazing. The sunburn later not so much.

Also, you may be shocked to learn this is not a self portrait. I am the orange one in the middle.

20251218105053_USDA_TFAA_TX_LSC_0039_OP3 by U.S. Department of Agriculture

(McAllen, Texas, December 18, 2025) Mexico Agrees to Meet Water Treaty Obligations for Farmers in the American Southwest. On December 12, 2025, the United States and Mexico reached an understanding to meet the current water obligations of American farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to repay the water deficit in Texas as part of the 1944 Water Treaty. This agreement extends to the current cycle and the previous cycle’s water deficit. For more information, see www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2025/12/12/me...

The Rio Grande is the lifeline of South Texas agriculture, and its flow is shaped by an international agreement—the 1944 Mexico Water Treaty. This treaty ensures that water from six Mexican tributaries is shared between Mexico and the United States. The U.S. receives one-third of the natural flows, while Mexico retains two-thirds. Mexico must order the release of their share in specified amounts. In this case Mexico has agreed to release 202,000-acre feet of water to the United States with deliveries expected to begin the week of December 15, 2025. The US/Mexico water is stored in two major international reservoirs: Amistad Dam near Del Rio and Falcon Dam near Zapata. Amistad holds most of the water because its depth reduces evaporation. When irrigation districts downstream need water, the Rio Grande Watermaster orders releases from Falcon Dam. For Edcouch, Texas, water takes about a few days to travel from Falcon. As the water flows down the Rio Grande, some is diverted by the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 pumping station, which serves McAllen and surrounding areas. The pump station uses up to ten 400 horsepower pumps to take up water in submerged 42-inch uptake pipes, lifts it 32 feet, when the flow is measured as it is discharged at a capacity of up to 680 cubic feet per second into a main canal. This process ensures that every drop is accounted for—meeting agricultural needs while minimizing freshwater loss to the Gulf of Mexico.

Today, two pumps provide the flow needed by the system. Water will flow in the primary delivery canal for a short distance into a nearby settling pond to help clarify the water before continuing into a main conveyance channel that leads north, through McAllen, Texas. Smaller channels or pipelines will branch off to municipal and irrigation water districts such as the Delta Lake Irrigation District and it’s Delta Lake Reservoir, with the capacity of 10,669 acre-feet of water and a surface area of 2,371 acres. Delta Lake Irrigation District currently serves 69,500 acres and diverts municipal water to the City of Raymondville, La Sara, Monte Alto and the City of Lyford. Their irrigation canals flow to the farms where growers such as the Edinburg Citrus Association then use their pump houses to draw the water and distribute it to their fields using pressurized pipelines for drip irrigation systems that deliver life-giving water to the grapefruit orchards. Their micro-irrigation tubes/tapes deliver a slow flow to the base of each tree to increase absorption into the soil, reduce evaporation, runoff and unwanted growth between the rows and other benefits.

The organization that diverts water from the Rio Grande for irrigation and municipal use in Texas is managed under the Rio Grande Watermaster Program, which operates under the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The Rio Grande Watermaster Program is a system managed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that oversees and regulates the use of water from the Rio Grande in Texas. Its main job is to make sure water is distributed fairly and according to legal water rights. The Watermaster calculates how much water is needed by farmers, cities, and industries, then orders releases from reservoirs like Falcon Dam and Amistad Dam. It also tracks water as it flows down the river to ensure that every drop goes to the correct user and that as little as possible is wasted or flows into the Gulf.

In 1932, a group of South Texas citrus growers came together to form the Edinburg Citrus Association (ECA), a non-profit co-op. The goal of the group is to maintain the highest quality pack and provide customers a highly marketable product at a competitive price.

USDA Media by Lance Cheung.

Islands Lake 2 017 by mtref22