NEW WATER LAW COULD END BAJA CALIFORNIA'S "WATER BANK"
The General Water Law initiative presented by Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum to Congress last October has critical implications for Baja California that have gone virtually unnoticed in the national debate: it could eliminate the so-called "Water Bank," the controversial but functional mechanism through which the state's coastal cities acquire water from Irrigation District 014 in the Mexicali Valley.
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For years, the state government has negotiated approximately 55 to 60 million cubic meters of water with farmers in the Mexicali Valley to supply Tijuana, Ensenada, Tecate, and Playas de Rosarito. The water is sold for about 13 pesos per cubic meter through what is commonly known as the Water Bank, which is managed by Irrigation District 014, charging a commission for the transactions.
The scheme has served as a safety valve for a structural problem: Tijuana consumes almost double its official allocation from the Colorado River—72 million cubic meters allocated versus 130-140 million consumed—and the coastal region requires more than 158 million cubic meters annually. However, the mechanism operates in a legally ambiguous area, since neither the National Water Law nor the Regulations of the Colorado River Irrigation District explicitly regulate the sale of agricultural water to urban areas.
The presidential initiative establishes three provisions that would make this practice illegal. First, Article 22 states that “the rights granted under concessions and allocations shall not be subject to transfer.” The head of Conagua, Efraín Morales, confirmed that this measure would directly impact the operations of Irrigation District 014.
Second, the law considers it a serious offense to “cede, supply, exchange for payment in kind, or provide in any other way to third parties, temporarily or permanently, the partial or total use of the water.” Fines range from 20,000 to 50,000 UMAs - approximately 2 to 5 million pesos—in addition to the possible revocation of concessions. Third, the use of the allocated water cannot be changed without federal authorization. The water in Irrigation District 014 is allocated for agricultural use, not for sale to urban public use.
Under the new law, the only authorized mechanism would be for farmers to return their unused volumes to a “Reserve Fund” established by Conagua (the National Water Commission), and for the federal authority to analyze and authorize a formal reallocation to the municipalities. This process would eliminate the commercial component that farmers receive, the producers' control of the Water Bank, the flexibility to adjust transfers according to annual availability, and the capacity for a rapid response to scarcity without lengthy federal procedures.
The consequences for Baja California are severe. The coastal region of the state has a deficit of 80-90 million cubic meters annually, which is currently covered by the Water Bank. Without this mechanism, Baja California would have to request permanent reassignments from Conagua (the National Water Commission) that would reduce agricultural water concessions in the Mexicali Valley, accelerate investments in desalination plants, implement drastic measures to reduce urban water consumption, and face potential severe water cuts during the transition period.
The Water Bank also represents a significant source of income for farmers who do not use their entire concession. Under the new law, there would be no financial compensation for voluntarily contributing water to the federal reserve fund. The rigidity of the new system would also be problematic: the flow of the Colorado River varies from year to year, and while the current system allows for flexible adjustments, the federal reassignment would be more rigid and slower to adapt to changes in availability.
While public discussion has focused on the general prohibition of water trading and the protests from the national agricultural sector, the specific impact on regional schemes like the Baja California Water Bank has been virtually ignored in media coverage. This case illustrates the tension between the reform's objectives—ending the commodification of water—and the pragmatic solutions that regions with extreme scarcity have developed, even though they operate in legal gray areas.
The dilemma is complex: the Water Bank has been criticized for opacity and corruption, but it has also been the solution that has prevented severe water crises in cities with more than 2 million inhabitants.
Senators from Morena warned that the General Water Law will be approved before the end of the ordinary session on December 15, regardless of the opposition from the PAN and the protests from the agricultural sector. The PRI's parliamentary coordinator, Rubén Moreira, denounced that Morena is seeking to approve the reforms through a "lightning" process, with forums convened via Zoom and minimal publicity to limit the participation of affected sectors.
With Morena's supermajority in both chambers, the bill's passage seems inevitable. For Baja California, this means that in a matter of weeks it could lose the mechanism that for years has allowed it to guarantee water to its coastal region, without a clear alternative yet in place to cover the structural deficit of tens of millions of cubic meters annually. The question is no longer whether the bill will pass, but how Baja California will resolve its water crisis when the Water Bank ceases to be a legal option.
This analysis was prepared using artificial intelligence tools and edited by the Tijuanapress.com team.
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