Mexico

Manufacturing Thirst: The Hidden Water Costs of Our Industrial Economy
The rampant waste of freshwater for general public use -- lawn watering, the creation of suburban fake lakes, excessive bathing and household washing -- has been well documented, as has the politically charged use of water in US agriculture. But the use and abuse of water in various parts of the global industrial economy is often overlooked. From the mining of raw materials for manufacturing to energy production, to the manufacturing process itself, the US industrial economy uses a significant amount of water every year. Exact numbers for the amount of water used outside of agriculture or home consumption are difficult to come by. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that industry uses about five percent of all the water in the US, but does not include mining or electricity generation in that figure. A report from Dow Chemical puts the figure much higher, at around 20 percent. And perhaps more importantly, neither number takes into account the volume of water pollution that occurs in the course of industrial processes.

World Water Forum Opens in Mexico
As delegates from the 121 countries gather Thursday for the IV World Water Forum, demonstrators plan protests against privatization, dam projects and water extraction from impoverished Indian communities.

Water Privatization and the Local Poor
"We used to be happy here,” he says. “Here by the shore on the water, there used to be thousands of lobsters, thousands of shrimp, thousands of clams and things, and we used to be able to fish and live off of that.” But now things are different. As the World Trade Organization creates policies to increase foreign investment in Mexico, Cancún’s Hotel Zone drains resources from neighboring communities. Waste from the resorts is dumped in Puerto Juarez, polluting the waters that locals depend on for fish. The privatization of water has been particularly devastating for the people of Puerto Juarez. Suez, a transnational water company based in France, now controls 50% of the municipal water supply. While vacationers in Cancún’s resorts enjoy fresh water from the tap, residents of Puerto Juarez pay alarming rates for water that is unreliable and unclean.

$2.2 billion water plan to help Mexico repay US
A series of measures to help preserve shrinking water supplies was launched in a move that could help Mexico pay its Rio Grande River water debt to the United States, the Associated Press reported.

Avoiding a Water War
The politics of water threatens to wash away some of the current amity in US-Mexican relations.