Mexico: New Water Regulation prioritizes domestic and environmental use and imposes stricter sanctions
Mexico’s new water regulatory framework prioritizes the human right to water, sustainability, and water justice, focusing on domestic and environmental uses. It reinforces state control over water resources, prohibits their commercialization, and increases sanctions — including the creation of water-related criminal offenses.
On October 9, 2025, the Chamber of Deputies’ Parliamentary Gazette published the federal Executive’s bill containing the draft decree by which:
- the General Water Law (LGA) is enacted, and
- various provisions of the National Waters Law (LAN) are amended, repealed, and supplemented.
This initiative establishes a new regulatory paradigm for water management in Mexico, based on a humanistic, sustainable, and water-justice-oriented vision. Domestic use and environmental restoration are positioned as national priorities, while recognizing the essential role of water resources in social and economic development.
The General Water Law (LGA) aims to guarantee the human right to water through the establishment of actions, competences, and inter-institutional mechanisms to ensure access and sustainable management, based on the interdependence of this right with other human rights.
The main reforms to the National Waters Law (LAN) reaffirm the State as the holder and regulator of water use. They mark a shift in the management paradigm by eliminating the private valorization or commercialization of water for profit — prohibiting the transfer of concessions and change of use — and by strengthening the sanctioning regime, introducing water-related crimes. The purpose is to ensure that water concessions and exploitation are tailored to each applicant’s needs, consistent with hydrological availability and demand, while avoiding the creation of a secondary water market.
You can check the full publication at this link.
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