Mexico’s water chief asks legislators for more resources

The Mexican government has so far awarded concessions for some 88Bm3 (billion cubic meters) of water to public and private entities due to privatizations under previous administrations, water authority Conagua chief Germán Martínez Santoyo said Thursday during a meeting with the senate water committee (in photo).

This is due, in part, because municipalities have the duty to provide water to the population but they lack financial resources to pay for operations and maintenance, Martínez said, adding that the privatization plans started in the 1990s.

Although awarding concessions has been seen by some as a solution to improve water management, the Conagua head said that it “represents expenses that in some way have to be paid by the citizens.”

As an example, Martínez cited the concession local operator Aguakan has had since 1994 in Quintana Roo state, where it provides potable water and sanitation services to the municipalities of Benito Juárez, Isla Mujeres, Puerto Morelos and Solidaridad.

The operator has infrastructure that involves 207 catchment wells, 70 drinking water pumping stations, four chlorination systems, three reverse osmosis plants and a 3,188km network for the conduction and distribution of water, according to its website. 

To increase water distribution in the country, especially in areas that suffer from drought, Martínez said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is working with all levels of government to build several new water treatment plants.

Nevertheless, he asked legislators to help him find solutions, especially for financing operating and maintenance costs.