Ejidatarios Fear Effects of Baja California Aqueduct Mexico News Daily
go to original December 20, 2016

Baja California's new aqueduct (Reforma)

The construction of an aqueduct in Baja California that seems to favor an American beverages company over local farmers has raised concerns about water availability and its fair distribution.

The third largest beer maker in the United States, Constellation Brands, is currently building a US $1.5-billion plant in Mexicali, capital of the northern state.

Expected to produce 1 billion liters of beverages annually, the plant is estimated to require 15 million cubic meters of water per year, or close to 6% of the state population’s water needs during that period of time.

...Community land owners — or ejidatarios — in the Valley of Mexicali were granted ownership of the aquifer, located beneath their land, in 1944, when it was recognized in a bilateral agreement signed by the Mexican and American governments that its use was to be solely for farming purposes.

The National Farmers’ Confederation has estimated that 1,500 families residing in the Valley of Mexicali would see their farming of 5,000 hectares negatively affected by the construction of the aqueduct.

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