Related Articles
-Editorial
Mexicali’s Coordinating Business Council, together with the Northern Horticultural Producers Association (PROHONOR), hosted a public forum titled “Analysis and Proposals on the Project to Amend the National Water Law.”
The organizations said the event aims to bring industry leaders, policymakers, and water experts together to evaluate the federal proposal and present recommendations intended to safeguard regional water management and agricultural needs.
The Northern Horticultural Producers Association (PROHONOR) urged unity among the state’s diverse water users as debate intensifies over the proposed reform to Mexico’s National Water Law. Speaking at a public forum on Wednesday, PROHONOR President Judith Méndez León said producers, irrigation districts, and agricultural councils have independently analyzed the reform and reached similar concerns about its impact on water rights, governance, and administrative processes.
“We may be indirect users who do not sit at the decision-making table, but we are still directly affected,” Méndez León said. “Our concern is the amount of available water, the technical studies behind the changes, and the future of water governance.”
Méndez León said the forum reflected “civic responsibility,” noting the wide range of interests represented and the shared alarm over key elements of the reform. She emphasized that although each region faces unique challenges — from coastal zones to irrigation modules — the proposed changes would affect all sectors.
“We all agreed on the same points, but each group has been working separately,” she said. “What we want to express today is that we share the same concerns, no matter if you are from the coast or the valley.”
Méndez León said the sector recognizes the positive intent behind efforts to advance a new federal water law aligned with Article 4 of the Constitution, which guarantees access to water for human use. However, she warned that the proposed amendments to the existing National Water Law contain “very important points” that could undermine long-established systems of water administration.
The most significant, she said, is the federal government’s aim to become the sole authority over water rights — reversing decades of shared governance and eliminating the ability of users to transfer or assign water rights among private parties.
She also raised concerns about inheritance rights. “They say people should not worry, but the language in the proposal does not match the public statements,” she said. Under the proposal, heirs would not automatically receive existing water titles; instead, they would be issued new ones — a process Méndez León warned could take years. “There is a period of vulnerability where we do not know how long the government will take to respond,” she said, noting that current administrative delays for water titles often stretch to five years.
Méndez León added that the reform introduces new sanctions and other sweeping changes the government intends to approve “in the coming weeks.” She said PROHONOR and other water-user groups have identified ten critical points within the reform that could affect all productive sectors directly or indirectly.
“We want all sectors of the state to be seen standing together,” she said. “This is not about being a small farmer, a horticultural producer, or someone with a deep well. We are all concerned about the same issues.”
She said the collective analysis produced at the forum will be sent to Congress as a formal statement of the sector’s expectations for protecting water rights.
“We are not here to take a negative stance, but a proactive one,” Méndez León said. “We want all users to be heard, and we want a clear explanation of how this transition will work.”
Speaking at a regional forum on Wednesday, Walberto Solorio Meza, president of the Agricultural Council of Baja California, said the proposed reform to Mexico’s National Water Law could undermine decades of progress in efficient water use and place additional burdens on coastal and agricultural communities.
“We are here to contribute from the coastal region and add our grain of sand to this effort to defend the most important resource we have in the agricultural sector — water,” Solorio Meza said. “That essential bond between water and agriculture has sustained generations, including four in my own family.”
Representing the coastal zone, Solorio Meza noted that the region accounts for roughly 80 percent of organized agriculture and supports tens of thousands of jobs. He said coastal producers have become national and global examples of water efficiency by measuring profitability not by acreage but by liters of water used per kilogram of crops produced.
“We have given water the value it deserves,” he said. “The coastal region has been a reference point worldwide in water-use efficiency, especially with such limited annual rainfall.”
Solorio Meza said that although valleys and coastal zones operate under “two completely different realities,” producers across the state share concerns over key elements of the reform — including the transfer of water rights, relocation of wells, and administrative delays he described as “paralyzing.”
“In the coastal zone, where it practically never rains, we depend on relocating wells and accessing new sources to keep operations running,” he said. “But these processes take years. We have procedures for coastal wells and direct ocean intakes that have been pending for six years, with rules that remain unclear.”
He added that producers must comply with new regulations imposed by federal authorities but lack any mechanism to demand timely responses from the government. “We have an authority that sets the rules but does not resolve,” he said.
Solorio Meza also highlighted the severe water challenges facing communities in San Quintín, where he said residents pay “the highest water costs in the world” and rely on rationing systems that fail to meet basic needs. Despite wages in the region exceeding national averages, he said many families still cannot afford adequate water access.
“The government needs a new regulatory framework that applies fair, clear rules so we can provide water to communities,” Solorio Meza said. “We must stop portraying farmers as water exploiters when they are the ones who have invested and made the necessary adjustments simply to survive.”
He concluded by calling for technical studies, transparent analysis, and cooperation with authorities to ensure that any reform reflects the state’s complex water realities. “We need a plan built on what we truly require,” he said, “and we must fight to make sure these efforts translate into real solutions.”
Dr. Jorge Ramírez, head of the Water Research Center at UABC, said universities have a responsibility to support society by contributing research and technical guidance.
“Our goal as academics is to look toward the community and think about how we can support development,” Ramírez said. He noted that UABC’s Water Research Center brings together specialists from agriculture, engineering, social sciences, and education to direct research “toward the needs of the population.”
Ramírez said the proposed General Water Law includes positive elements, particularly its recognition of the human right to water, community participation, and the importance of water culture in regions facing scarcity. “These are fundamental points, and we fully agree,” he said.
However, he warned that the proposed changes to the existing National Water Law fail to modernize key structures that should reflect current realities. “We have seen major changes in water use and availability over the last 30 years,” he said. “We would expect the law to help us become more productive and more efficient.”
Ramírez criticized the lack of updates to the citizen participation chapter, specifically the structure of Basin Councils, which he said remains unchanged from three decades ago. “The Basin Council brought all sectors to the table to discuss water problems and reach agreements,” he said. “But even today, the National Water Commission is not required to follow those agreements.”
He said meaningful reform should ensure that regional consensus is integrated into national water policy.
