CONAGUA to Improve Water Practices at 200,000ha of Farmland

The federal government aims to improve water use practices at 200,000ha of farmland to improve their water consumption efficiency, reports the National Water Commission (CONAGUA). Through the National Program for Agricultural Irrigation Technification, authorities aim to recover over 200 million m³ via the use of modern technology and irrigation techniques.

The program aims to increase water efficiency in the agricultural sector, which consumes over 76% of the country's water. It will upgrade facilities at over 200,000ha of farmland, allowing farmers to produce more food with less water and recover about 2.8 billion m³ of water, which is the equivalent of three times the yearly water supply for Mexico City, says Efraín Morales, Director, CONAGUA. 

Aarón Mastache, Deputy Director of Agricultural Water Infrastructure, CONAGUA, says that the program will repair deteriorated canals and dams, line earthen channels to prevent seepage, fix faulty gates that cause water loss, and upgrade flood irrigation systems, which lose significant amounts of water to infiltration and evaporation. The total investment for the program is projected to be over MX$60 billion (US$3.1 billion) throughout the Claudia Sheinbaum administration, and MX$6.7 billion in 2025.