Water decrees.
President Enrique Pena Nieto last month signed ten decrees lifting bans on accessing water from 295 hydrological basins across Mexico. The move caused controversy with press reports claiming they amount to the ‘back-door’ privatisation of more than half of Mexico’s lakes and rivers. It has since been clarified that the changes do not mean privatisation, but President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and his proposed Energy Minister Rocio Nahle have promised to abrogate the decrees.
Without addressing pollution and waste, the decrees’ impact will be marginal in improving water management.
Any regulation changes risk exacerbating socio-environmental conflicts, particularly in areas already lacking sufficient supply.
Worsening climate and demographic pressures will make water reform increasingly urgent.
