Tijuana's water supply was at risk last week when farmers in the Mexicali Valley, pressured by the new Water Law and angered by government statements, threatened to use all the water from the Colorado River to which they are entitled, even if it resulted in economic losses.

By Vicente Calderón – Tijuana Press

Read Full article in Spanish here

"Yes, it was at risk," confirmed Alfonso Cortés Lara, a researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), noting that the farmers were very angry.

The specialist in transboundary water management, who has been advising farmers in Irrigation District 014 on a voluntary basis during negotiations with Conagua (the National Water Commission) and the Baja California state government, was present at the marathon session the farmers held with the director of the National Water Commission and the governor.

The new water law approved by the Mexican Congress prohibits water originally designated for agricultural purposes from being used for other activities. It is part of two federal government reforms aimed at regaining control of water, which is increasingly scarce in Mexico and around the world, primarily due to droughts and climate change.

There has also been overexploitation and corrupt management of what, according to the constitution, is a national asset.

The legal reforms promoted by the presidency argue that they are intended to guarantee water as a human right. However, farmers' organizations and the political opposition in Mexico have accused the government of infringing upon several acquired rights, leading to highway blockades, the takeover of toll booths, and protests at border crossings with the United States in various states.

During the intense negotiations last Sunday, which lasted nine hours in Mexicali, agricultural producers proposed an extreme measure to demonstrate their discontent with what they consider an unfair characterization of their historical water allocation to the coastal region.

“They said, ‘I’ll take my water, my irrigation rights, I’ll plow my land and water it even if I don’t have any crops. That way I’ll use up all 1.85 billion cubic meters and see how they manage.’ And that silenced them,” Cortés Lara recounted about the most tense moment in the meetings.

Tijuana no longer has enough water to supply its population, and to address this scarcity, the state government pays farmers in the Baja California capital to relinquish their water rights that they don’t use in their fields for various reasons.

In this way, the authorities have obtained nearly half of the water that Tijuana requires, which is transported through the Río Colorado aqueduct built in the 1980s.

The new law takes away their water rights and the possibility of negotiating its use unless they use it for their communal lands (ejidos), transferring it to the reserve that would remain in the hands of the federal government.

The researcher explained that it wasn't an empty threat: “As a hydraulic engineer and an agronomist, I can tell you: they can do it. Even if it causes them economic losses, they can use all the water in their fields just to demonstrate that they have that right.”

For days, the farmers have kept their tractors near the international border crossings and the highway to San Felipe, though without completely blocking traffic, as a pressure tactic until the agreements are finalized. Last week, they temporarily blocked access to the Garita Dos commercial border crossing.The specialist added that the producers are well aware of their leverage: “They went so far as to say, ‘I can make sure you have no water at all.’ And it's true.”

One of the most sensitive points in the negotiations has been the official statements made by Morena party officials.

“It can’t be that some municipalities don’t have water while irrigation districts have more than enough. Then the irrigation districts sell water to the municipalities when they don’t pay for it. That can’t be,” declared Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month during one of her morning press conferences.

The farmers have said they receive compensation for operating costs, but that it’s not about profit. They insist they have altruistically provided water for years so the government can address the water shortage in the coastal region.

The researcher specified that the state government currently pays 13,000 pesos per hectare of water provided (10,800 cubic meters), just 3,000 pesos more than what the binational land-rest program paid. “It’s to cover operating costs, not to make a profit,” he emphasized.

During the negotiations, Cortés Lara has presented several proposals that are still under review and awaiting approval. Among them is a permanent compensation mechanism for farmers who would permanently cede their water rights to Tijuana.

“A long-term, permanent compensation program is being discussed. It’s no longer like the temporary land-rest system. If they are going to give up their rights