Eighty-six percent of Chiapas’ population has access to safe drinking water. The state is obliged to guarantee the right to water for the state’s nearly 6 million inhabitants.
The Mexican state is obliged to ensure that the human right to water is guaranteed for the nearly 6 million people of Chiapas. Currently, coverage is at 86%, but sanitation only reaches 40%. The National Water Commission (CONAGUA) is developing strategies to improve access and has informed Felipe Irineo Pérez, director of the Southern Border Basin Organisation (Organismo de Cuenca Frontera Sur).
In other words, access to the human right to water has yet to be guaranteed for at least 1.6 million inhabitants. Many people in rural communities rely on springs for their water supply, which represents a significant challenge due to the high investment required from the three levels of government, as Irineo Pérez reiterated in an interview during the informative meeting on the human right to water.
He mentioned that one of the strategies is the National Water Plan, in which municipal presidents present their drinking water, drainage and sanitation needs, with the aim of finding solutions through waterworks financed by the three levels of government.
In Chiapas, the required resources to guarantee water, sanitation and drainage services for all households have yet to be determined. According to the National Agreement for the Human Right to Water and Sustainability, 76 per cent of water is used for agriculture, 14 per cent for human consumption and 10 per cent for industry.
In the same context, Irineo Pérez emphasised that sanitation is the biggest challenge. There are currently more than 300 wastewater treatment plants in Chiapas, and plans are in place to carry out studies and projects for their rehabilitation, expansion or any other technical recommendations.
Currently, treatment plants only operate in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, while in municipalities such as Tapachula, they only operate partially. The objective is for all plants to be operating at 100% capacity by the end of the six-year term, in order to stop polluting the rivers. Although 86 per cent of the population has access to the water service, it is necessary to improve efficiency and ensure the availability of the resource for the 600 irrigation units in the state.
