- Mexico’s federal government has declared the northern state of Nuevo Leon’s water deficit a matter of “national security”.
- The region, home to Mexico’s industrial hub, has been plagued by a deepening drought in recent months.
- Outrage has grown as commercial bottlers and beer companies extract billions of gallons of water annually under federal concessions.
Mexico designated the northern state of Nuevo Leon’s water deficit a matter of “national security” on Friday, as the region, which is home to Mexico’s industrial hub, has been plagued by a deepening drought in recent months.
The federal government said in a declaration made Friday afternoon that available water should be prioritised for public use, and that existing federal water concessions to private corporations might be adjusted or reduced.
“We’re going to be able to guarantee water (in the state of Nuevo Leon) eight to 10 more years,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said earlier on Friday during his regular news conference.
In recent months, outrage has grown across the Monterrey metropolitan area, home to approximately 5.3 million people, as authorities severely restricted water access to residents, even as commercial bottlers and beer companies continued to extract billions of gallons of water annually under federal concessions.
Heineken (HEIN.AS), which according to Mexico’s national water body CONAGUA holds permits for 3.6 million cubic metres of water in the area, announced earlier this month that it will provide communities the equivalent of 20% of the potable water used in its processes.
Photos of canned water supplied by Heineken have gone viral on social media in recent days, eliciting criticism from many who still lack access to clean water at home.
Authorities began limiting access to flowing water in the urban region to only a few hours each morning in June.
Water rationing has caused periodic protests, with some people claiming that they have gone days, if not weeks, without having any flowing water at all.
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