MEX, US at Odds Over Border Fence in Flood Plain OOSKAnews
go to original August 2, 2012

MEXICO CITY — The US section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC/CILA), a bi-national government organization that monitors water issues on the US-Mexican border, is locking horns with Mexican authorities over a proposal to build a border fence in a floodplain in southern Texas.

Mexican officials argue the fence would deflect floodwaters to its side of the Rio Grande and violate a bi-national treaty.

But the US section of the IBWC sent a letter to the US Customs and Border Protection noting that it will not oppose the project, since its analysis found that the fence would not seriously obstruct river water.

"When it comes right down to it, the scientific analysis is what we have to fall back on," John Merino, principal engineer with the U.S. commission, said last week.

Half of the 22.5 kilometers of fence would be in the flood plain, located near the towns of Rio Grande City and Roma. Another section of fence, in Los Ebanos, is no longer considered necessary, according to Jenny Burke, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

More funding is still needed to build the fence, however, said Burke. The government would also need to submit construction drawings for approval before continuing, according to Merino.

Merino said the disagreement with the Mexicans stems from differing assumptions, as Mexico looks at the fence as a solid barrier, like a dam that would not allow water to pass through it. US engineers believe water will pass through the structure as long as it is kept free of debris, he said.

The IBWC’s support for the project is a reversal of its earlier stance; the agency had previously expressed concern when the government was still proposing a "moveable" fence in 2008.

In July 2008, Al Riera, then the principal operations engineer for the US boundary commission, told a citizen’s forum, “If they (Department of Homeland Security) don’t show us they have something in place to guarantee removal of the (fence) panels … the commission would never agree to something like that.”

Plans for the movable fence involved a base of concrete barriers topped with about 5 meters of tightly woven steel fencing that could be removed in advance of floodwaters.

Merino said the project had not been analyzed when Riera made the comments. Riera is no longer with the commission.

A letter from a Mexican engineer to Merino in December 2011 said the project represented a serious obstruction.

“The location, alignment and design of the proposed fence represent a clear obstruction of the Rio Grande hydraulic area, since in the towns of Rio Grande City and Roma, (Texas), the fence would occupy nearly all of the hydraulic area on the US side, causing the deflection of flows towards the Mexican side,” wrote principal engineer Luis Antonio Rascon Mendoza.

The 1970 Boundary Treaty between the United States and Mexico prohibits both countries from building anything that "may cause deflection or obstruction of the normal flow of the river or of its flood flows."

Jesus Luevano, secretary of the IBWC’s Mexican section, said Mexico's position is that the "wall constitutes an obstruction of the normal current ... in terms of the 1970 Boundary Treaty, therefore we continue fighting its placement with respect to the Rio Grande flood zone."

The United States has built over 1,000 kilometers of border barriers along the 3,144-kilometer border with Mexico

The fence segments in question would be built closer to the river than usual. In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security waived a number of environmental regulations to allow speedy construction of the fences.

Jeffrey Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said he will send a letter to the commission this week demanding an explanation for the agency's new position. He noted that the proposed fencing would cut through a national wildlife refuge.

"We don't know the reason that all of these concerns evaporated" he said.

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