Mexico City.- President Claudia Sheinbaum ruled out that her Government has any interest in modifying the 1944 International Waters Treaty, with which Mexico and the United States agreed on the bases for the equitable distribution of the waters of the Tijuana, Colorado and Bravo rivers.
In a conference, Sheinbaum reported that his Government has other plans to guarantee the care and efficient use of water resources.
“Would you consider reformulating that treaty?” he was asked. “No, the treaty is not affected,” the president responded.
Sheinbaum reported that the National Water Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture have already started conversations with those who have concessions for agricultural use, in order to carry out a review and improve use.
“Conagua and Sader are meeting with irrigation districts, because they have, in some cases, they have water concessions, they have more water concessions than they use. And since we are going to carry out a very important irrigation technology program, to reduce the water consumption in irrigation, increasing field productivity and releasing water for other uses, we are talking to them,” he said. “Because, for example, if you have – it is hypothetical – 10 million cubic meters under concession and with modernization you are only going to use five, then those other five should be released so that they can be used in other uses.” He explained that, in the case of industrial use concessions, a national agreement is also sought to protect and improve the use of the liquid. The president trusted that the conversations will allow the instrument to be finalized for the month of November. “Both with irrigation districts and with industrialists that consume water, the general director of Conagua is meeting with the objective of making a national agreement for the protection, conservation and efficient use of water resources, which will allow us to better use water in the country,” he said. “I believe that we are going to have this agreement by November and it is very important. And the idea is that these agreements are generated that allow us to use water more efficiently, in addition to strategic works that we are going to develop.”
Cutzamala at 60%
On another topic, Sheinbaum reported that thanks to the rains recorded this year, the Cutzamala System is at 60 percent of its capacity.
The water supply to the Valley of Mexico, he explained, went from 6 to 8 cubic meters per second, although the 10 that were recorded in previous years have not been reached. “It is at 60 percent, it increased. The Cutzamala system is the system that comes from dams in Michoacán, State of Mexico, to supply water to the entire Valley of Mexico, State of Mexico and Mexico City. With the droughts of the years previous years the water in the dams had decreased a lot,” he commented. “At the beginning of this year there was a supply of around 10 cubic meters per second during the rainy season; this decreased to 6 cubic meters per second, at this time it has already recovered to 8 cubic meters per second. There is more water, it is 60 percent, but the highest levels that have been achieved in other years have not yet been achieved.
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