Mexico’s Critical Call for a Nature-Forward Water Legislation

Environmental attorney Javier Ruíz emphasizes the urgent need for Mexico to legislate a new National Water Law, taking into account Human and Natural Rights. He suggests that the upcoming federal administration should prioritize revising the existing General Water Law. The revised law should be framed with a focus on human rights and the rights of nature, rather than merely managing the resource, as the current law does.

According to Ruíz, the current General Water Law, implemented in 1992, merely regulates the usage of water. Its provisions can even lead to conflicts when deciding the priority usage of water. He insists that the new law must clearly delineate the roles of different users, prioritizing not just human needs but also ecological ones.

Despite being in the hurricane season, various regions of the country are currently facing severe drought conditions. This situation is worsening year after year. In fact, the need for a new General Water Law has been a pressing issue for over a decade. A constitutional reform in 2012 mandated the Union Congress to issue new legislation, but this has yet to be fulfilled.

In 2022, after a decade of non-compliance, several municipalities in Chihuahua challenged the Union Congress's omission by submitting constitutional controversies to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN). The SCJN ruled in favor of the municipalities and instructed the Federal Legislature to enact the Law during its next regular session. However, this has not yet occurred.

In a recent meeting with Sinaloa farmers during the electoral campaigns, Senator Enrique Inzunza Cázares acknowledged that colossal interests surround water. He stated that it was the responsibility of the Fourth Transformation to untangle this web of interests with a new General Water Law.

With the impending change in federal administration, both academic and productive sectors in Sinaloa have identified the availability and access to water as a critical issue for the incoming government of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.