The leaf vascular bundle sheath cells (BSCs) that tightly envelop the leaf veins, are a selective and dynamic barrier to xylem-sap water and solutes radially entering the mesophyll cells. Under normal conditions, xylem-sap pH of <6 is presumably important for driving and regulating the transmembranal solute transport. Having discovered recently a differentially high expression of a BSC proton pump, AHA2, we now test the hypothesis that it regulates this pH and leaf radial water fluxes.We monitored the xylem-sap pH using the ratiometric fluorescent probe FITC-dextran fed into veins of detached leaves of WT Arabidopsis, AHA mutants, and aha2 mutants complemented with AHA2 gene solely in BSCs. We tested an AHA inhibitor and stimulator, and different pH buffers. We monitored their impact on the xylem-sap pH, the whole leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf) and the water osmotic permeability of isolated BSCs protoplasts (Pf).Our results demonstrated AHA2 indispensability for xylem-sap acidification, necessary, in turn, for elevating Pf and Kleaf. Conversely, elevating xylem-sap pH to 7.5, reduced significantly both Pf and Kleaf.All these demonstrate a causative link between AHA2 activity in BSCs and leaf water influx. This positions the BSCs as a pH-controlled transpiration valve in series with the stomata.One-sentence summaryBundle-sheath cells can control the leaf hydraulic conductance by proton-pump-regulated xylem sap pH