Mexico rejects U.S. court ruling on border canal project, weighs legal options

Source: International Herald Tribune

Mexico rejects U.S. court ruling on border canal project, weighs legal options
The Associated Press
Published: April 10, 2007

MEXICO CITY: Mexico has rejected a court ruling allowing the U.S. government to line a border canal with concrete to prevent leakage, saying the project will harm the environment and Mexican farmers.

"The government is reviewing, in contact with parties potentially affected by the ruling, the legal options available" for challenging the project further, the Foreign Relations and Environment departments said in a statement Monday.

At stake is the lining of the All-American Canal to save an estimated 67,000 acre-feet of water — enough to meet the needs of more than 500,000 homes — that currently seeps out of the canal.

Environmental and farming groups say the US$200 million (€150 million) project would dry up tens of thousands of acres (hectares) of farmland in Mexico's Mexicali Valley and threaten migratory birds by eliminating wetlands. That in turn, they say, could cause job losses and other economic problems on both sides of the border.

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