Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Centers & Programs
    • Centers
      • Center for Energy Studies
      • Center for Health and Biosciences
      • Center for the Middle East
      • Center for Public Finance
      • Center for the U.S. and Mexico
      • McNair Center
      Center for Energy Studies
      Providing new insights on the role of economics, policy and regulation in the performance and evolution of energy markets.
      More Details
      The globe at night, lights in populated areas illuminated
      Center for Health and Biosciences
      Advancing data-based policies that promote health and well-being in the U.S. and around the world.
      More Details
      Female healthcare worker lifts finger to press digital buttons featuring topical iconography
      Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East
      Developing pragmatic policy approaches to the region’s enduring political, economic and societal concerns.
      More Details
      Topographic map of Middle East
      Center for Public Finance
      Delivering research and analysis on the effects of major U.S. fiscal policies.
      More Details
      Stack of coins with mathematical figure overlays
      Center for the U.S. and Mexico
      Strengthening the binational relationship by addressing major concerns on both sides of the border.
      More Details
      Textured flags of America and Mexico
      McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
      Providing actionable policy analysis and recommendations that aim to expand the economy through private enterprise.
      More Details
      Professionals gather around a large table with laptops, printed documents and coffee cups for a business meeting
    • Programs
      • China Studies
      • Drug Policy
      • International Economics
      • Presidential Elections
      • Religion & Public Policy
      • Science & Technology Policy
      • Space Policy
      China Studies
      Analyzing the influence of the transnational circulation of people, technologies, commodities and ideas in China.
      Read More
      Person walks alongside large banner with Chinese characters
      Drug Policy
      Pursuing research and open debate to develop pragmatic drug policies based on common sense and driven by human rights interests.
      Read More
      Marijuana
      International Economics
      Studying timely issues in global economic policy as well as developmental policy in foreign countries.
      Read More
      International paper currencies stacked together, showing range of colors and styles
      Presidential Elections
      Offering nonpartisan analysis of elections to better understand the changing dynamics of presidential campaigns.
      Read More
      An assortment of campaign buttons from a variety of US elections and political pursuits are displayed in a collage
      Religion and Public Policy
      Exploring how religion and cultural factors interact with public policy issues.
      Read More
      A worn path stretches between rows of olive trees
      Science and Technology Policy
      Addressing a broad range of policy issues that affect scientists and their research.
      Read More
      A scientist picks up test tubes from a rack.
      Space Policy
      Focusing on U.S. space policy and the future of space travel.
      Read More
      The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at sunrise
  • Events
    China flag with binary code overlay texture
    China Studies
    Mon, Jan. 30, 2023 | 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
    How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty See Details
    The front of Baker Hall, from across the plaza, with fountain in foreground
    Center for the U.S. and Mexico
    Thu, Feb. 23, 2023 | 5 pm - 7:30 pm
    Immigration Reform and the Impact on Children: A Town Hall Discussion See Details
  • Experts
    • Biomedical Research
    • Child Health
    • China
    • Conflict Resolution in the Middle East
    • Domestic Health Policy
    • Drug Policy
    • Energy
    • Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
    • Global Health
    • Health and Biosciences
    • Human Rights and Refugees
    • International Economics
    • Islam and Politics
    • Latin American Energy
    • Middle East
    • Political Economy of the Arab Gulf
    • Presidential Elections
    • Public Finance
    • Religion and Public Policy
    • Science and Technology
    • Space Policy
    • Texas Politics
    • U.S. and Iran
    • U.S. and Mexico
    • See All Experts
    • Experts in the News
  • Support
    • Join the Roundtable
      Join the Roundtable
      Learn more about the Baker Institute’s premier membership forum, which offers unique opportunities to engage with fellows and policy-minded peers.
      Read More
      RT
    • Join the Roundtable Young Professionals
      Join the RT Young Professionals
      If you're interested in major political and public policy issues, and want the opportunity to network with industry leaders and your peers, then our young professionals organization is for you.
      Read More
      RYP Baker
    • Major Gifts
      Major Gifts
      Major gifts provide the funds necessary for the Baker Institute to explore new areas of study and research, and expand current programs.
      Read More
      Wallace S. Wilson meeting with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
    • Endowments
      Endowments
      Endowment gifts provide the Baker Institute with permanent resources that support research programs, fellows and scholars.
      Read More
      Pictured from left are William Martin, Katharine Neill Harris, Ambassador Edward Djerejian, Alfred C. Glassell, III, and Pam Lindberg
    • Planned Giving
      Planned Giving

      Plan a gift that will ensure lasting, meaningful support for policy programs important to you.

       

      Read More
      meeting
    • Corporate Support
      Corporate Support
      Corporations can become involved with the institute in a number of ways and see the benefit from the research conducted by our fellows and scholars.
      Read More
      Wide shot of the Doré Commons during a Shell Distinguished Lecture Series event featuring Wim Thomas
  • About
    • People
      People
      Learn more about the Baker Institute's leadership and get contact information for the administrative staff.
      Read More
      Secretary James A. Baker, III, stands with a portion of the Berlin Wall, outside of Baker Hall
    • Student Opportunities
      Student Opportunities
      Through the internships on campus and beyond, Rice students can explore careers in public policy, or simply become better informed about important issues of the day.
      Read More
      Amb. Edward P. Djerejian speaks with students outside Baker Hall
    • Annual Report
    • Blog
    • Contact
      Contact Us
      Complete a form for event, media or other inquiries, and get directions and parking information for the Baker Institute.
      Read More
      The front of Baker Hall, from across the plaza, with fountain in foreground
  • Contact
  • Research
    • Economics & Finance
      Economics & Finance
      Read More
    • Energy
      Latest Energy Research
      Summary on Latest Energy Research
      Read More
    • Foreign Policy
      Foreign Policy
      Read More
    • Domestic Policy
      Domestic Policy
      Read More
    • Health & Science
      Health & Science
      Read More
    • All Publications
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Economics & Finance
  • Energy
  • Foreign Policy
  • Domestic Policy
  • Health & Science
  • All Publications
Center for the U.S. and Mexico | Research Paper

The 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty as a Constitutional Document

March 14, 2019 | Stephen Mumme
The Mexico and U.S. flags in front of a brick wall.

Table of Contents

Author(s)

Headshot of Stephen Mumme
Stephen Mumme
Nonresident Scholar
Read More

Share this Publication

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Linkedin
  • Download PDF
  • Print This Publication

Tags

water treatywaterwater treaty

To access the full paper, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar.

Introduction

Judged through the lens of international treaty assessment, the treaty between the United States of America and Mexico regarding the Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, with accompanying Protocol, signed at Washington, D.C., on November 14, 1944, was at the time and is today an extraordinary achievement. Ratified by the U.S. Senate on April 18, 1945, after 21 successive days of hearings conducted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee between January 22 and February 15 and ratified by Mexico’s Senate on October 16, 1945, after nearly a month of hearings in August, the 1944 water treaty ranks without a doubt among the two or three most consequential binational agreements made by the two countries.

Several additional observations may also be made of the treaty and its origins. At its signing, the water treaty was quite arguably Mexico’s most successful negotiation of great consequence with the United States, and the first and still among the few bi-national agreements negotiated from a position of binational power parity between the two countries. It was regarded by its negotiators as an equitable agreement that served the national interests of both countries. Now, 75 years later, that can still be said. It may also be said of both countries that its diplomacy was a triumph for the foreign ministries, which succeeded in advancing a clear national interest over the parochial interests of other federal agencies and, particularly in the U.S., the interests of the individual states in the named river basins. In the absence of the U.S. State Department’s dispositive insistence on subordinating particular state concerns to international objectives, the treaty would never have been written as it was. In the U.S. this meant keeping the pressure on the Rio Grande and Colorado River basin states to reach a linked agreement on water sharing on these rivers at a time that the Roosevelt administration was crafting the post-World War II world order. In Mexico it meant a close working alliance with between the Secretariat of Foreign Relations and the influential National Irrigation Commission in countering the objections of opposition politicians to aspects of the signed water treaty, fully aware of the unique opportunity that offered itself at the time (Enriquez 1976 Samaniego Lopez 2006, 369-378).

Remarkable as it was at its signing and ratification, the treaty was not yet politically consolidated. That would take time, at least 20 years to put a number on it. But the treaty worked and its mechanisms proved sufficient to the anticipated and unexpected challenges it faced. In both design and operational practice the water treaty has gained stature such that today it enjoys a quasi-constitutional standing in binational water governance. To appreciate this achievement it is necessary to consider the various elements that lend the treaty such force and resilience as an international instrument.

© 2019 Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
https://doi.org/10.25613/penm-6c73
  • Print This Publication
  • Share
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email
    • Linkedin

Related Research

Mexico Flag
Center for the U.S. and Mexico | Report

Mexico Country Outlook 2023

Read More
Rio Grande
Center for the U.S. and Mexico | Report

Treaty and Non-Treaty Mechanisms for Resolving the Rio Grande River Water Debt Dilemma

Read More
Hand types on laptop keyboard, with icons and symbols extruded from the screen; future tech, AI concept
Center for the U.S. and Mexico | Journal

A Social Network Analysis of Mexico’s Dark Network Alliance Structure

Read More
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Donate Now
  • Media Inquiries
  • Membership
  • About the Institute
  • Rice.edu
Contact Us

6100 Main Street
Baker Hall MS-40, Suite 120
Houston, TX 77005

Email: bipp@rice.edu
Phone: 713-348-4683
Fax: 713-348-5993

Baker Institute Newsletter

The email newsletter of Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy provides a snapshot of institute news, research and upcoming events.

Sign Up

  • © Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy
  • Web Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy