The recent reform of the National Water Law represents an important legal change in Mexico’s water sector in recent decades. To facilitate its understanding and accessibility, the Permanent Forum of Binational Waters (PFBW) prepared a technical synthesis based exclusively on the Opinion (Dictum) of the Chamber of Deputies’ Committee on Hydraulic Resources, Drinking Water and Sanitation and its review document, approved by the Mexican Congress in December 2025.
This document has a strictly informative purpose. It aims to make the core elements of the National Water Law accessible to different interested sectors in Mexico and the United States, without representing or supporting any political, sectoral, evaluative, or argumentative position regarding the reform.
The Dictum of the reform begins with a structural diagnosis of Mexico’s water sector, highlighting the overexploitation of aquifers, the sustained decline in per capita water availability, increasingly frequent droughts, obsolete infrastructure with high levels of water loss, and significant sanitation gaps. In response, the reform is built on guiding principles such as the human right to water, the absolute priority of domestic and human consumption, territorial equity, integrated basin management, environmental sustainability, and social participation.
From an institutional perspective, the reform provides the federal government concentration overall stewardship of the national water system and the administration of concessions through CONAGUA, while state and municipal governments retain complementary regulatory and operational responsibilities. The law also strengthens water planning instruments, including the National Water Program and the National Water Strategy, incorporating long-term horizons and climate adaptation criteria.
One of the most significant changes introduced by the National Water Law is the comprehensive redefinition of the legal regime governing water concessions and the transfer of water rights. Informal practices are replaced by a verifiable administrative framework with full federal oversight, periodic water availability reviews, and greater traceability of titles. Readers are invited to consult or download the full PDF document prepared by the PFBW to review the complete synthesis in detail.
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