Overview
- With a 85–36 vote after bypassing committees, the Senate approved the new General Water Law and related changes and forwarded the decree for publication.
- The Chamber of Deputies earlier passed the package 324–118 with 2 abstentions after a roughly 24‑hour debate that incorporated dozens of last‑minute tweaks.
- The law ends private transmission of concessions and establishes authority-managed reassignment within 20 business days for sales, mergers and inheritance, links water rights to land, and creates a national reserve of recovered volumes.
- Penalties increase for water-related crimes, including new offenses for illegal transfer and extraction and prison terms of 2 to 14 years for officials who grant titles in exchange for personal benefits.
- Opposition parties cite centralization and missing indigenous consultation and farm groups pledge continued mobilizations, while key operating details now await Conagua regulations.