The latest war brewing at the U.S. – Mexico border isn’t about undocumented immigrants, it’s about water.

Bush administration lawyers are urging a federal appeals court to allow a section of a canal separating California and Mexico to be lined with cement to stop millions of gallons of water from seeping south of the border each year.

The water in question is seeping through the All-American Canal that delivers Colorado River water to crop land on both sides of the border. Under a 1944 U.S. treaty, Mexico is entitled to 489 billion gallons of Colorado River water, but not a drop more.

The lawsuit claims there would be significant job losses on the Mexican side of the border as thousands of acres of crops would turn to dust, that Mexican wells would become polluted without the seepage and migratory birds would be threatened if wetlands disappeared.

There is a link, though, between the proposed canal lining project and immigrant movement through the border. Some immigrant advocates claim that the project to cut the seeping water potentially harms migrants by depriving swimmers of tall grasses to grab and protect themselves against a strong undercurrent.

Via / Newsday.com