Home > Infrastructure > Expert Contributor

Why Mexico Needs a New Water Law and Blue Investment

By Luis Manuel Leon - Consejo Consultivo Pensando en México

Counselor in Water and Climate Change

STORY INLINE POST

‘Blue Jobs’ as the Driving Force of Mexico’s Future

What Are the Purposes for Climate Action in 2025?

Mexico as a Potential Climate Economy

Why Mexico Needs a New Water Law and Blue Investment

Energy and Regeneration: Context for Climate Investment, Finance

Triple Alliance Needed to Address Latam Inequality

Startups as Economic, Social and Environmental Solutions

In 2012, the Congress of the Union of Mexico voted in favor of enshrining the human right to water in the Constitution. A transitory article was drafted that established the issuance of a new General Water Law that would regulate this right; however, so far, more than 10 reform initiatives have been presented in the legislature that have not achieved this objective. Consequently, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation censured the parliamentary chambers for this omission.

The absence of a normative instrument that allows for clarity on the rights to use water and the human rights inherent to this common good has been fertile ground for the emancipation of socio-environmental conflicts over water. Likewise, the circumstances of economic inequality, environmental deterioration and ecological balance, the lack of budget and fiscal collection for the improvement of the functioning of the water system and, finally, the lack of transparency and access to public information on the rights to use this vital liquid, as well as for the participation of other actors in decision-making, have negatively impact people's water conditions.

For example, 653 aquifers have been defined in Mexico, of which 101 are overexploited, while 63.3% of the sites of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) monitoring network are classified as contaminated or heavily contaminated. In sum, the Drought Monitor has indicated that more than 80% of the national territory is in this situation.

On the other hand, there are still millions of Mexicans who do not have their human right to water guaranteed. For example, according to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) in 2021, it was estimated that about 21 million Mexicans do not have access to drinking water on a daily basis.

It is worth remembering that the current law was promoted under an economic development scheme in 1992, ahead of the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), now USMCA, in 1994 to encourage foreign investment in the sector, under the prospect of using water as an instrument of economic growth.

However, the challenges related to water have changed and now contemplate conditions of risk due to climate change and the transition toward sustainability in relation to addressing water and food security in the face of extreme natural phenomena and droughts, the demands of citizens and Indigenous peoples for human rights in the management and administration of water, and the need to implement corporate social responsibility policies in the private sector, as well as access to mechanisms for water justice provided by the state.

At the same time, the sector needs growth in terms of investment to develop these conditions. The latest expenditures have not reached the recommended limits of international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which determines that a reasonable minimum of 0.25% of the gross domestic product (GDP) should be allocated to water and sanitation; nonetheless, it should be over 0.30%.

Mexico has the capacity to dedicate the necessary budget to meet these demands and comply with the standards set by international organizations. According to CONAGUA’s 2023 budget, approximately MX$62 billion, MX$32 billion were needed to exceed the range outlined by the IDB (this is not more than 3% of the budget allocated to the state's energy companies). The minimum recommendation needed could be offset with external strategies as improvements in the fiscal collection and through public-private initiatives.

Finally, the legislation of this new law is an area of opportunity for the government, stakeholders and society to find a consensus on water governance that will allow for greater attention to the challenges posed by the use of water.

The following are a series of proposals to be considered in this new instrument:

Design, establish and implement a strategy for the sustainable development of the sector and public policy in the medium and long term in the normativity.
Establish public-private investment mechanisms and incentives for infrastructure development, increased supply capacity, wastewater treatment and harvesting of rainwater, and new information technologies for real-time monitoring of water flow, quality, and quantity.
Make mandatory the constant review of water concessions and the extraction of volumes of water to prevent the over-concession of aquifers, the sale of water uses outside the regulations and the overexploitation of water.
Guarantee sufficient federal financial resources, strengthen collection schemes, and collaborate with other stakeholders for municipalities for the proper operation of municipal water systems.
Move from a vision of hydraulic policy to a hydric policy that does not see water as an infinite good, but with respective limits of use for its conservation and regeneration.
Strengthening the institutional design and capacities of the CONAGUA.
In this regard, it is also necessary to strengthen the technical capacities of human resources in the field of water management and administration in accordance with a normative provision.
Promote a culture of caring for water through regulations that inculcate a sustainability perspective.

In my opinion, the condition that has limited the issuance of a new General Water Law corresponds to the lack of a consensus on what water governance should look like, starting with a reflection on institutional design, administration and management and the establishment of a short, medium and long-term vision that addresses the challenges previously presented. This governance must be based on the involvement of all sectors.