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While many Mexican water supply and sewer service providers rank among the best in Latin America, in general, the Mexican water and sanitation sector is characterized by the following issues (i) poor technical and commercial efficiency of service provision; (ii) inadequate water service quality; and (iii) inadequate sanitation service quality, particularly concerning wastewater treatment; (iv) inadequate coverage, in particular in poorer rural areas.

This article is part of a series of articles describing water and sanitation in various countries around the world using the same categories to facilitate comparison. For more details see the links to articles on other countries in the section "see also".

Contents 1 Access 2 Quality of service 3 Institutions and policies 4 Efficiency 5 Tariffs and cost recovery 6 Financing 7 See also 8 Sources 9 Notes 10 External links

		Urban (76% of the population)	Rural (24% of the population)	Total
Water	Broad definition	100%	87%	97%
	House connections	96%	72%	90%
Sanitation	Broad definition	91%	41%	79%
	Sewerage	80%	16%	64%

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (2004), extrapolating access data from the 1990 census, 1995 population survey, 2000 census and 2003 World Health Survey.

During the past decade, the Mexican water and sanitation sector made major strides in service coverage with water supply and sanitation coverage. As shown above, in urban areas almost 100% of the population is estimated to have access to improved water supply and 91% to adequate sanitation. In rural areas, the respective shares are 87% for water and 41% for sanitation.^[1] Coverage levels are particularly low in the South of the country.

Quality of service also leaves much to be desired. The 2000 census indicated that 55% of Mexican households with access to piped water received services on an intermittent basis. About 30% of wastewater is being treated, a share that is twice as high as the average for Latin America.^[2]

According to the Mexican constitution responsibility for water supply and sanitation services delivery rests with 2,446 municipalities since the decentralization of 1983.^[3] However, a few states deliver services through state water companies on behalf of municipalities. Most states also have established state water agencies that have different roles in each state, such as technical assistance to service providers, assisting in investment planning, and channeling of federal subsidies. ^[4] In some cases, the state agencies directly provide water and sanitation services. In rural areas, water boards (Juntas) are responsible for water supply.

Federal policies for water and sanitation are set by the Comision Nacional del Agua (CNA), a well-established autonomous entity under the Ministry of Environment. The sector strategy of the federal government focuses on providing investment subsidies to service providers through a variety of programs aiming to improve coverage and efficiency. A 2004 modification of the National Water Law envisaged the transfer of certain functions from both the federal and state levels to newly created institutions at the level of river basins, including financial decisions through the creation of a National Water Financial System. The provisions of the new law remain to be implemented.

The efficiency and quality of water and sanitation services vary widely, to a large extent reflecting different levels of development across the country. Mexico boasts some of the best-run public utilities in Latin America, such as Aguas y Drenaje de Monterrey, but also has some utilities with dismal performance. On average, the level of non-revenue water in Mexico is 44%, about twice as high as for well-run utilities. Furthermore, on average only 72% of all bills are being paid.

Tariff levels and structures vary widely in Mexico from providers that fully recover all costs to those that do not even cover operating costs. The sector as a whole falls far short of generating sufficient revenues to cover full costs.

Investments are financed by federal subsidies (56% in 2003), subsidies (13%), housing developers (22%) and other sources (9%) including self-financing, credits and municipal subsidies. Federal subsidies are channeled through various programs, including sector-specific programs managed by CNA and the Fondo de Apoyo a la Infraestructura Social (FAIS), which is a transfer of tax revenues to municipalities for use at their own discretion in various infrastructure sectors.^[5]

• Water supply
• Water supply and sanitation in Latin America
• Water supply and sanitation in Argentina
• Water supply and sanitation in Bolivia
• Water supply and sanitation in Brazil
• Water supply and sanitation in Colombia
• Water supply and sanitation in Ecuador
• Water supply and sanitation in El Salvador
• Water supply and sanitation in Guyana
• Water supply and sanitation in Haiti
• Water supply and sanitation in Honduras
• Water supply and sanitation in Nicaragua
• Water supply and sanitation in Uruguay

• Water supply and sanitation in the United States
• Water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom
• Water supply and sanitation in France
• Water supply and sanitation in Germany

Comision Nacional de Agua (CNA): Situación del Subsector Agua Potable y Saneamiento 2006.CNA

Pablos, Nicolas Pineda: La Politica urbana de agua potable en Mexico: del centralismo y los subsidios a la municipalización, la autosuficiencia y la privatización. Rivista Región y Sociedad, May 2002.

World Bank: Mexico Infrastructure Public Expenditure Review (IPER), 2005.IPER

UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation at JMP

Organización Mundial de Salud (OMS): Evaluación de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Saneamiento 2000 en las Américas Mexico

1. ^ UNICEF/WHO JMPWaterSanitation
2. ^ Word Bank IPER, op.cit., p.27-28 and CNA 2006
3. ^ Pablos 2002
4. ^ World Bank IPER, op.cit., p. 10-14
5. ^ World Bank IPER, op.cit., p.29-34

• CNA
• AyD de Monterrey