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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION <br />UNITED STATES AND MEXICO. <br />El Paso, Texas <br />December 17, 2010 <br />�J <br />n <br />Minute No. 318 <br />ADJUSTMENT OF DELIVERY SCHEDULES FOR WATER ALLOTTED TO <br />MEXICO FOR THE YEARS 2010 THROUGH 2013 AS A RESULT OF <br />INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE IN IRRIGATION DISTRICT 014, RIO <br />COLORADO, CAUSED BY THE APRIL 2010 EARTHQUAKE IN THE <br />MEXICALI VALLEY, BAJA CALIFORNIA <br />The Commission met at the offices of the United States Section in El Paso, Texas <br />at 10:00 a.m. on December 17, 2010 to discuss adjusting the schedules for deliveries of <br />Colorado River water to Mexico for the period from 2010 through 2013 because of <br />infrastructure damage in Irrigation District 014, Rio Colorado, caused by the April 2010 <br />earthquake in the Mexicali Valley, Baja California. <br />The Mexican Commissioner reported that during the aforementioned earthquake, <br />serious damage occurred to the distribution network of Irrigation District 014, Rio <br />Colorado, covering a length of 398 miles (640 km) of the canal system, while <br />approximately 148,000 acres (60,000 hectares) of land were impacted to some degree; <br />consequently, Mexico is having difficulties receiving through its hydro - agricultural <br />infrastructure its full annual allotment under the "United States - Mexico Treaty on <br />Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande," signed <br />February 3, 1944 (hereinafter the 1944 Water Treaty). <br />The Mexican Commissioner then referred to his government's instructions to <br />explore through the Commission the option of adjusting the delivery schedules for <br />Colorado River water, recognizing the volumes of water that Mexico cannot utilize for the <br />period from 2010 through 2013 due to the aforementioned damage, and the desirability <br />that such volumes be delivered at a time when Mexico can utilize them, according to the <br />progress achieved in the reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure. In this context, he <br />stated that an estimated volume of 260,000 acre -feet (320 million cubic meters [mcm]) <br />could not be utilized in 2010 through 2013. <br />The U.S. Commissioner noted that the appropriate authorities in his country were <br />made aware of the damage that the Irrigation District 014 infrastructure suffered during <br />the April 2010 earthquake, and they have expressed their willingness to support Mexico <br />by making it possible for Mexico to adjust the schedule of water deliveries from its annual <br />allotment during the period from 2010 through 2013 in light of the problems arising from <br />the aforesaid damages. <br />The Commissioners noted that in the preamble to the 1944 Water Treaty, both <br />countries made clear their desire to "obtain the most complete and satisfactory utilization" <br />of the waters of the Colorado River. They also observed that the 1944 Water Treaty <br />