Bacalar, Q.R. — Farmers in southern Quintana Roo concerned about their legal rights protested a newly passed federal water law Monday. Dozens of producers lined the Cafetal-Limones-Mahahual highway to show their disagreement for the newly approved federal General Water Law.
The Ley General de Aguas was recently approved by federal legislators with the objective to promote, respect, protect and guarantee the human right to water for consumption.
However, it also means agricultural producers will no longer be able to inherit, sell, or adjust the volumes of water on their property. In Quintana Roo, ranchers, farmers and producers held a peaceful demonstration in the municipality of Bacalar in protest.
Protestors hung banners from overhead lines across the highway expressing their disagreement with the new water law “because it is a disguised instrument for the federal government to appropriate the liquid and incorporate taxes to grant it to the producers,” they said.
The new law eliminates the possibility of transferring water rights (in most cases) affecting agricultural producers since the concessions will cease to be part of their assets.
Protestors created handwritten banners that read “Truck drivers move production. Farmers create production. Without fair water, without security, and without just laws, Mexico grinds to a halt. No to the new National Water Law.”
Producers continued their protest througout Monday afternoon on the highway between Mahahual and Cafetal, in the municipality of Bacalar, against the recent senate approval.
On Friday, senators approved the General Water Law (Ley General de Aguas) by majority vote. Farmers say the newly approved law will negatively impact their water use and the concessions they hold for agricultural purposes.
