I won’t drink to that
With perhaps undue haste, a new “General Water Law” has been pushed through ahead of the change of government which, according to critics, opens the floodgates to privatization and locks in water rights for fracking and mining, at the expense of agriculture.
Restrictions on the delivery from 300 water reserves was lifted by the new law (published on 5 June) which represents 40% of all open water resources in the country. As noted by the World Wildlife Federation, and others, this will also permit mining and fracking industries to obtain “concessions” and turn control of the resource over to local water companies, many of which have been, or are expected to be, privatized. No mention is made in the new bill of indigenous water rights, although most of the affected sources are the main source for water on indigenous lands.
Water in Mexico, like oil and minerals, was considered a national resource, to be managed by the Federal Government for the benefit of the people.
Sources: Jornada, mientrastantoenmexico.mx, Gaceta Diario.
The Mex Files 
Time for AMLO to step up to the plate on this. He should make it known that he will do everything he can to reverse this if he gets elected.
The sheer waste of water in Mexico City is a national disgrace. Leaking faucets, overflow shower heads, ancient water-sucking toilets all contribute. And there appears to be absolutely zero effort to catch any of the massive annual rainfall. Perhaps the country should look to use its resources a little more wisely. Charging something like a market rate for water would be a good first step.
Saludos,
Kim G
Redding, CA
Which is part of a large, parched region that’d be overjoyed to have even half of Mexico City’s rainfall.
Uh, this change mostly (in fact entirely) affects rural areas. Of course, there are any number of proposals on the table to ameliorate the water problems in CDMX. It’s a major issue in the upcoming election, and much of the support for the front-runner (Claudia Sheinbaum) is due in part to her being an environmental engineer who is a relatively well-known expert in just this area.
Well, I sincerely hope someone does something to ameliorate the horrendous water situation in CDMX. The long-suffering people deserve something better than the status-quo.