Mexico water scarcity and aquifer overexploitation, Digi Mart USA News (Chihuahua, Mexico): Chihuahua state has 56 percent of its territory over overexploited aquifers, including Conejos-Médanos, El Valle de Juárez and Laguna de Patos. According to the platform’s data, 41 of the state’s 75 aquifers are in this condition.
The information comes from a digital platform created by software engineer Eduardo Chacón, who was born in Colima and has experience in user experience design. The platform gathers official data on water availability, aquifer conditions and concessioned volumes across Mexico.
Answers to who may extract water in Mexico, and how much, are found in public records of the National Water Commission (Conagua). Consulting and interpreting that information, however, requires navigating databases and official documents.
Chacón’s project, Sinagua.org, aims to make those records understandable to the general public.
The project draws on, among other sources, the Public Registry of Water Rights (REPDA), which documents permits to use national waters. The data show who holds concessions, the authorized uses and the annual volumes that may be extracted from wells, rivers and dams.
Chacón said he wanted to present all of this information on one platform that is easy to understand and that anyone can access when needed. According to the platform’s data as of 2023, the field sector uses 89 of every 100 liters, cities use 9 percent, industry 1 percent and private individuals 1 percent.
The platform also reports that 9 of 13 measured rivers, lakes and dams in Chihuahua are contaminated with sewage and fecal bacteria, and that water from three of every six wells is not safe for drinking.
For Sinaloa, the platform shows that 93 percent of concessioned water volume goes to agriculture, 5 percent to cities and 1 percent to multiple uses. Five agricultural user associations together account for about 16 percent of the state’s concessioned volume, according to the percentages published by Sinagua.org.
Private individuals’ concessions, which are not shown by name, represent 4 percent.
These figures reflect authorized volumes, not measurements of water actually extracted. Actual use may be lower than the permitted amount or may exceed registered figures where extraction occurs without authorization.
Chacón said one finding surprised him: “There is not only a lack of water, but the water left in Mexico is either dirty or already owned.” Based on projections he cited, he stated that by 2058 aquifers will no longer have water, which he described as just around the corner.
Sinagua.org also allows people to submit anonymous complaints about access to water. At the time of the interview, Chacón said the platform had received more than 20 reports, including one from a woman who said water in her community arrives every third day and only for a few hours.
He also described service interruptions in Colima linked to disputes over the infrastructure that supplies the population. These testimonies must be verified case by case and checked against information from water operators and responsible authorities.
“The more informed we are, and the more we inform others, the more changes we will make to our country,” Chacón said.
This report was originally published by Revista Espejo, part of Territorial Alianza de Medios.
