The problem around water management is extremely complex, so specialists usually analyze only some stages of the water cycle (collection, treatment, storage, distribution, sanitation, etc.). What is true is that each stage is relevant, since a failure in any of them can cause water not to reach its final destination: the field, industries, shops, services and households.
With regard to water for domestic use, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) is the one who grants concessions to water operating organisms (OOA), who have the attribution of providing the drinking water, sewerage, treatment and disposal service, treatment and disposal of wastewater. Although most OOA are municipal, there are also cases in which they are attached to state authorities. All OOA in their role as dealers must pay the Conagua rights for the volume granted for its use (except those with concessions for agricultural use), which are based on the amount extracted and the quota established in the law in the law Federal Rights. In this case, the resources paid by the concessionaires go directly to the coffers of the Federation.
The OOA also have among their functions to operate and expand the networks and facilities, carry out the necessary works to improve the provision of the service, as well as to collect and administer the income for payment of services. In that sense, these income is part of the resources of municipal governments, with the exception of cases such as Mexico City, Quintana Roo and Querétaro, where OOA are state.
According to the information provided in the budget transparency portal of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), the total collection for the water supply in 2023 reached 90,299 million pesos. The federative entity with the highest collection is Baja California (9,356 MDP), followed by Nuevo León (8,654 MDP), Mexico City (8,551 million pesos), State of Mexico (7,646 MDP) and Chihuahua (5,783 MDP). On the contrary, the states with less collection are Tabasco (221 MDP), Tlaxcala (272 MDP), Campeche (284 million pesos), and Oaxaca (368 million pesos). The differences are significant because, Baja California, for example, raises 25 times more than Oaxaca.
In turn, the municipalities that best raise for the water supply are Tijuana, Juárez and Mexicali with 4,928, 3,066 and 2,434 million pesos respectively (according to figures of 2023). At the other extreme we have San Pedro Atoyac Ya Santo Domingo Petapa, both in the state of Oaxaca, with income of 50 and 100 pesos.
There are different factors that explain these marked differences, from the ability of organisms to identify their users, measure household consumption, their collection strategies, to the level of the fees they charge. A tool that is useful in the diagnosis of some of these variables is the program of management indicators of operating organizations (Pigoo) of the Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA). For example, according to IMTA, in 2022, 77% of the total amount billed for water sale was charged, which implies that 23% were pending collection.
With regard to rates, there is also a significant difference in what some cities per cubic meter charge in domestic use. For example, in 2023 in Mérida, Yucatan charged 5.9 pesos per cubic meter, while in Pachuca, Hidalgo the rate was 43.65 pesos. In theory, all rates should consider factors associated with service provision (cost of extraction, distribution and maintenance, investment in water infrastructure, among others); However, in practice this does not always happen.
The lack of attention to the aforementioned elements, not only impacts collection levels, but can eventually seriously affect the provision of drinking water service. In this sense, it is important to break the vicious cycle in which some OOA are located, marked by low collection, which does not allow the necessary actions to be carried out efficiently to all corners of the country.
Only a few months ago the main note in several media was that on June 26, 2024 it would be zero day, because according to the forecast of some experts in the field, when that date arrived there would be no water for any inhabitant of the city from Mexico. Although the prognosis was not fulfilled, with the panorama above, it is clear that the necessary efforts are not being made, in the three areas of government, to ensure compliance with the human right to water in every corner of the country.
