Mexico City — The National Water Commission (Conagua) has launched a free one-year program to regularize expired water concession titles, providing legal certainty to users and strengthening water management.
The initiative, announced July 15 in the Official Gazette of the Federation, is part of reforms to the National Waters Law. It targets concessions that expired between January 1, 2009, and July 16, 2026, and were not renewed on time.
Eligible titles include those for domestic, urban public, agricultural, livestock, aquaculture, or combined uses. Users qualifying include irrigation districts, irrigation units, ejidos, state and municipal governments, and individuals with annual volumes of up to one million cubic meters. Also covered are users who received a concession resolution between April 1, 2019, and July 16, 2026, but have not yet had it registered in the National Public Water Registry.
The regularization period runs from July 16, 2026, to July 15, 2027. Conagua said regularizing a concession restores legal certainty over water use, helps avoid administrative penalties for operating with expired titles, and simplifies future water-related procedures. It also updates the concession registry, enabling more equitable water distribution and supporting policies for water sustainability and the human right to water.
Users can apply through Conagua’s digital window at ventanilladigital.conagua.gob.mx or seek in-person assistance at the Yucatan Peninsula Basin Organization office in Merida (Calle 59-B No. 238, Fraccionamiento Yucalpeten), open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Phone inquiries are available at (999) 341-0600, extension 1251. Conagua emphasizes that no intermediaries or gestores are needed, and all guidance is free.
Using national waters without a valid concession is an irregularity that can result in fines, closure of water uses, or service suspension under the National Waters Law.
