Emir Olivares and Nestor Jimenez
Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, August 2, 2022, p. 3
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador emphasized that in the face of the water crisis in the country, especially in the north, the National Water Commission (Conagua) will not grant more concessions for the industry in that region, particularly to mining companies and for drilling through fracking.
He added that his government is analyzing whether the National Water Law should be reformed to avoid corruption in the delivery of these permits for the exploitation of the resource, because although it is prohibited to give them, he acknowledged that in some cases they continue to be granted.
In yesterday’s press conference, the president even said that already in his personal administration of Conagua, he handed out concessions for the industry in Nuevo León, which today faces a water emergency due to the lack of supply for domestic use.
In the Treasury Hall of the National Palace, he was asked if there was a government plan to prevent a crisis similar to that of the Monterrey metropolitan area from happening in other parts of the country, to which he replied:
“We have to look for other ways, options and alternatives, because the problem will never be solved if they continue to grant concessions left and right (…) Conagua is no longer going to give, grant concessions, but it also has to do with the state and municipal authorities, that these resources be taken care of.”
Yesterday the day published an interview with university specialist Raúl García Barrios, who stated that the country lives a systematic corruption in the use
of that resource and spoke of the need to modify the law, to separate – also in water management – politics from the economy, a formula that the president has proposed in other topics.
The case of the Lagoon
López Obrador underlined his opposition to repeating the case of La Laguna, where the resource was granted. “It cannot be repeated. What has been done in milk production in La Laguna is exemplary, but that model must be transferred to other regions, because alfalfa –indispensable to produce dairy– consumes a lot of water”.
– Is it necessary to reform the water law? –She asked him.
-There are those who think that. There is even a movement of water defenders, serious, respectable people, not like the pseudo-environmentalists (who oppose the Mayan Train). They are justifying that the reform of the water law is important. We are analyzing it, because we are seeking to convince, persuade, not impose anything, and people are understanding it.
He added that in the north of the country there is a lot of awareness about the importance of caring for water and not only among citizens who are dedicated to other activities or specialists, but also in the business sector. So, it is a matter of defining and also ending corruption because, it seems unbelievable, it can be prohibited and concessions are made
.
In the case of the water emergency in Nuevo León, he pointed out that agreements are still insufficient for the industry to cede part of the water it exploits to domestic use. He said that this sector uses 1,800 liters per second and contributes 200, in addition to the fact that there are 399 concessionaires for industrial use and only 60 participate in the pact.
In addition, it requested the support of the private initiative in the construction of a second 100-kilometer aqueduct that connects the El Cuchillo dam with the Monterrey metropolitan area, in order to supply water for domestic use, a project that will have tripartite investment (Federación , state government and municipalities).
