AUSTIN (KXAN) – You might say Texas is in a “water war” with Mexico. Felipe Jesus Galvan said he is a casualty of that conflict.

Customers once poured into Galvan’s East Austin fruit stand for the citrus he sells from the Rio Grande Valley, but the drought down south hurt farmers and sent costs up. As a result, his business has all but dried up.

“I hope things get back to normal like it was four or five years ago,” Galvan said through a Spanish interpreter. “In return, we sell everybody everything higher than we should, because we pay higher prices on the product.”

One reason – Texas is not receiving what it should from the Rio Grande River. The waterway makes up the border with Mexico, a neighbor which state lawmakers say has not followed the rules for years.

It all dates back to an international treaty nearly 70 years ago, saying a certain amount of the Rio Grande River must flow into Texas hands. The 1944 agreement states that inflows from certain tributaries of the river must be “apportioned one-third to the United States and two-thirds to Mexico.”

In a five-year period, the U.S. share should not dip below 350,000 acre-feet. Rep. Eddie Lucio, III , D-Brownsville, said that number is now up to 410,000 – an amount that could supply most of the Valley’s municipalities and their 1.2 million population with water for just under two years.

“This is not in any way an anti-Mexico resolution,” Lucio told members of the House Committee on International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs on Monday. “This is a ‘please work with us’ resolution.”

Lucio said several irrigation districts in the Valley are now projecting they will exhaust their water reserves by mid-year 2013. The treaty says Mexico is allowed to deliver less than the required amount to the U.S. during a “extraordinary drought,” but testimony during the committee hearing from Lucio and other water officials suggested not all of the latest five-year period reflected such dire circumstances.

In response, he authored a resolution , asking the legislature to urge the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission to take “appropriate action to ensure Mexico complies” with the treaty.

Committee Chairman Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, said Congress has given Texas a ten-day window for a response, so they can begin working toward a solution. He added that the committee will expedite the process and have a decision soon.

“If an East Texas colleague of mine came to me and said, ‘We have this issue we’re trying to resolve with Louisiana that primarily impacts us, but we’re all brothers and sisters and it all impacts everyone throughout the state and will you help me?’ I would be there in a heartbeat,” Lucio said. “What happens in the Rio Grande Valley can affect small businesses in West Texas or East Texas and vice versa.”

Galvan said he feels that impact. The few customers he has left said they would hate to see him go after so many years… at the mercy of Mexico and Mother Nature.

“They have no control, and they’re just trying to survive with everything they’re given,” said Joni Newfrock. “I come from an agricultural-based family, and I know how important it is for these people to keep their families and their businesses alive.”