29th of december 2025, México city
On December 11, 2025, Mexico's new water legal framework was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, consisting of the enactment of a new General Water Law and a comprehensive amendment of the National Water Law (“NWL”). Below is a summary of the most relevant points.
NEW GENERAL WATER LAW
Firstly, a new regulatory law is created under Article 4 of the Constitution, whose main purpose is to guarantee human right to access, availability, and sanitation of water, a natural resource essential for life. This is in compliance with the provisions of the 2012 reform of said article of the Constitution, that elevated this right to constitutional status.
This new law is being introduced on the basis that the NWL, enacted on December 1, 1992, and amended several times over the years, regulated mainly the administrative management of water, while the General Water Law seeks to modernize the legal framework to guarantee the water human right and strengthen the integrated management of the resource.
Its general guidelines include: prioritizing domestic use and access to the minimum vital amount of water, promoting a culture of water conservation, and avoiding the total suspension of water service to individuals.