The great water circus: Conagua to the rescue (or not?)
While peasant organizations blocked half the Republic – a very subtle way of saying “we do not agree” – the general director of the National Water Commission (Conagua), Efraín Morales López, came into the ring at the morning show of the president Claudia Sheinbaum to clarify things. Or, at least, to try. With the elegance of an elephant in a china shop, he explained that the famous package of reforms to the General Water Law is not, in reality, the monster that some paint it as. According to him, the objective is quite laudable: to prevent individuals from playing Monopoly™ with concessions and to stop the hoarding of the resource. No restrictions on inheritances or purchases, please! That would be too sensible for a country where drama is the daily dish.
The initiative, sent to the Chamber of Deputies, proposes two legislative gems. On the one hand, a new General Water Law that, supposedly, reinforces the human right to vital liquid and defines powers between the three levels of government (because, let’s be honest, nobody knows who does what). On the other hand, a reform to the National Water Law so that the State recovers the “stewardship of the resource.” In other words, stop being a passive spectator while a few do business with what should be a fundamental right. The official, with a “I didn’t do it” face, maintained that the 1992 legislation allowed the sharks with greater economic capacity to accumulate concessions, generating inequality that has left communities and small producers drier than a chip sandwich.
The noble objective (or the perfect justification)
So, in this wonderful new scheme, individuals would be prevented from selling and transmitting titles between themselves as if they were trading cards. Changes of use that today allow an agricultural concession to magically end up irrigating the golf course of a luxurious real estate development would also be prohibited. Because, of course, what would the elite be without its well-irrigated putting green while the neighbors ration a drop?
Among the pearls of the project, Morales highlighted the creation of a public registry of concessions to guarantee “total transparency” – a phrase that sounds as good as it is utopian in this country -, the elimination of speculative hoarding and the strengthening of sanctions against “water theft.” Because, apparently, we’ve been confusing hookahs with Robin Hood for decades. He also promised a reserve fund for rural and indigenous communities and the regulation of rainwater collection systems that, he said, have caused ecological damage due to disproportionate constructions. Come on, if your cistern is bigger than your house, you may have a problem.
Efraín Morales, with the serenity of someone trying to put out a fire with gasoline, emphasized that the versions that claim that the legislation would prevent the inheritance of water are false. He affirmed, with a legal certainty that many would envy, that the concessions may be renewed in the name of the heirs or buyers. What a relief, you can leave the farm to your children and, as a gift, the right to sue for a drop of water.
And meanwhile, in Colima…
To sweeten the bitter pill of the controversy, Conagua announced the start of “Agua para Colima”, a pharaonic work that consists of a 21-kilometer aqueduct and an investment of 1,780 million pesos. The project seeks to guarantee supply for the metropolitan area of the capital, which for decades has depended on the supply of the indigenous community of Zacualpan. Because nothing says “water justice” like building a mega-project to bring water to the city, right?
Remotely – perhaps to avoid getting wet – the governor of Colima, Indira Vizcaíno Silva, celebrated the work and pointed out that the growth of the region required a new source. He assured that the approval of the project reflects a federal policy that prioritizes the human right to water regardless of the size of the population. The president stated that the infrastructure will provide viability to the supply for at least 30 years and thanked the support of a sensitive federal government. Sensible, of course, as long as you don’t block a road.
Morales, closing his act, accused the opponents of the reform of “defending interests associated with the hoarding of water for years.” Come on, according to him, those who protest are the same ones who have had the key to the tap for decades. And he announced that the proposal will be discussed in the coming days in San Lázaro. Get ready for more chapters of this soap opera, where the script is written by interests and the ending is still a mystery.
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