Mexican construction chamber wants to make Conagua a ministry

Mexican construction chamber CMIC has proposed making national water commission Conagua a ministry so it can gain access to greater funding to tackle the water shortages in many parts of the country. 

Water availability will be essential to deal with challenges like the nearshoring trend in central and northern states, CMIC president Luis Méndez Jaled said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

“The states and regions that attract most investment currently face higher levels of water stress, which is the case of some states in the northern and Bajío regions with automotive, aerospace, logistics and medical equipment clusters,” he said. “These regions occupy nearly 80% of the territory and 77% of the national population. Eighty percent of the GDP is generated there and only 33% of the water they have is renewable.”

According to the construction chamber, upgrading Conagua to a ministry from its current status as a decentralized administrative agency would provide it with a better legal framework.

“Conagua is a great institution, but it requires more abilities and better instruments to align policies at the three levels of government, clearly establishing regulatory, operative, control and supervisory responsibilities,” said Méndez.

With that change, CMIC also proposes that national investment in water infrastructure should be doubled from the 45bn pesos (US$2.7bn) allocated in 2024 to 90bn pesos per year for the next 10 years, focusing on projects in the states with the highest levels of water stress.

Figures provided by the chamber suggest that nearly 6mn Mexicans lack access to potable water and 11mn are not served by sewerage networks. Moreover, 157 aquifers of the 653 registered in the country are overexploited and 60% of bodies of water in the country suffer some degree of pollution. 

“More than 40% of water is lost to leaks in distribution systems, and between 40% and 60% of water used in agriculture is lost. Nearly 58% of the reservoirs in the country are at less than 50% of capacity… and 70% of national territory is suffering water stress,” said Méndez.