Water pipeline theft should be fought just like gasoline pipelines
The water crisis has led to water being sold in different parts of the country. Photo: Cuartoscuro / Gabriela López.
By: Abigail A. Correa Cisneros
In the midst of the water crisis in this country, there are citizens who exploit loopholes that still exist in the National Water Commission (Conagua) enforement.
This corruption, which has been targeted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration from its beginning, takes the form of illegal wells and the diversion of the most important resource for life, water.
The names of some private individuals who diverted water to their ranches in Nuevo León have just come to light. Fernando González Treviño and Luis González Treviño took for their sole use enough water to supply 140,000 inhabitants. Recently, the State Government reported the existence of clandestine water intakes in various rural municipalities. One of them is connected to a ranch hotel that took water from the San Fernando River; the second is a property in Hualahuises, Nuevo León, which used gates and a dam to restrict the flow of water and divert it for irrigation.
The State also found and closed a reservoir inside a ranch where water was illegally extracted from a pipeline that connected to the El Cuchillo dam in Nuevo León.
Water is no longer a national asset; it is now monopolized by companies and one or two individuals who plunder it with impunity, leaving the neediest without it. Since 1992, the concession system has allowed leaks, and the governments that have come to power have turned a blind eye. This system does not accurately record how much water is extracted or what it is used for.
There are thousands of concession titles for agricultural use when in fact it is used for other purposes, which means a diversion of the subsidy and therefore a crime. In addition, according to the law, those who have concessions for agricultural use are not required to pay for the water they use. Large companies such as mining, soft drink and beer companies among others, have been identified as responsible for taking water away from communities. Several of these corporations benefit from tax write-offs and subsidies intended for rural areas.
Illegal wells have been reported for years, but to no effect. In Chihuahua alone, ejidatarios (owners of communally-owned land), farmers and members of the El Barzón organization ( a movement of working and lower-middle-class private business and farming interests in Mexico) have been denouncing this activity for at least a decade. Those affected did their investigation,, since Conagua showed no interest, and discovered close to 1,500 illegal wells in the state.
When the complaint was made during the six-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto, Conagua suddenly came up with 395 registration certificates that were delivered to producers in the municipalities of Cuauhtémoc, Riva Palacio and Namiquipa (Cuauhtémoc and Santa Clara aquifers); areas where the illegal wells had been found.
What is particularly deplorable is that when the farmers denounce illegal activity or seek to have their rights recognized, they are treated as troublemakers and criminals, and even face death threats. For example, in the case of Chihuahua where the complaint was made a few decades ago, the authorities – instead of defending citizens – allowed the arrest of about twenty people for protesting the electrification of illegal wells that are depleting the aquifers.
Since 2012, several agricultural producers with legal concessions to extract water from the hydrological basin of the Río del Carmen, have noticed that their harvests have decreased in volume due to the depletion of the aquifers. They started a movement to demand that the authorities cancel the more than 400 illegal wells in the basin. Illegal overexploitation not only affects families who have concessions to plant their plots and produce food, but also causes irreversible damage to natural resources.
In 2012, Ismael Solorio and Manuela Solís were murdered for defending the right to water. In the time period 2021 to 2019, there have been 83 murders of environmental and territorial defenders, who mostly fought for access to water for their communities.
FROM THE CENTER
The Summit of the Americas, held this year in Los Angeles, recently ended. One of many topics discussed was the uncontrollable migration in the region. In addition to steps such as allocating more financial support to Central American countries, the Sting program was highlighted. The plan, which is aimed at dismantling migrant caravans, is subject to criticism in terms of human rights violations. While it combats coyotes (human smugglers), it also treats migrants as criminals. In an interview with CNN, the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, spoke of the program. He said the Sting program will deploy hundreds of agents in Latin America to dismantle the «human smuggling» network dedicated to organizing the caravans of thousands of migrants that have become a headache for the United States and other governments in the region, Mexico included.
The first 6,700 tons of ammonium sulfate arrived in Mexico. This shipment will help meet the demand of commercial agriculture at competitive prices, as well as increase the country’s agri-food productivity to combat the global crisis caused by the conflict in Eastern Europe. According to Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, these measures to increase the availability of fertilizer to Mexican farmers are part of AMLO’s Plan against inflation and shortages (PACIC). The Plan eliminates the compensatory quota for ammonium sulfate previously in effect.
Translated by Rebecca Zittle
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