US also responsible for dwindling of water in Rio Grande, IBWC commissioner says

MERCEDES, Texas (Border Report) -- Maria-Elena Giner wishes she were a "water fairy" with more good news about water deliveries from Mexico to South Texas.

The head of the U.S. International Water and Boundary Commission also joked during a meeting of the Lower Rio Grande Citizens Forum that she had "failed" the region in her capacity as a diplomat between the United States and Mexico and convincing Mexican authorities to release more water.

"I have not given up," Giner said Tuesday. "I continue to press them."

But she says Mexico isn't the only one to blame.

The IBWC presented a hydrology report showing that the United States has had a 33% decrease in water contributions to the Rio Grande in the past decade. Mexico has had a 52% decrease, she said.

Part of that is attributed to decreasing streams and wild swings in water flows from the Pecos and Devils rivers in Texas. She attributes that to population growth, drought, a lack of storage infrastructure, and evaporation.

The report found that there were 4.6 million fewer acre-feet in total U.S. inflows in the last decade compared to the 1980s.

One acre-foot of water is equal to 325,851 gallons of water, or enough water to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

"This basin is wild," IBWC hydrologist Delbert Humberson said. "Some days a...