Water Policy in Mexico ― Economic, Institutional and Environmental Considerations

Mexico is currently facing severe problems with water availability, wastage and contamination. The most contaminated and over-exploited water resources are concentrated in the most populated areas of the country, where water is scarcer and its quality makes it unsuitable for a variety of uses, including human consumption. At the same time it is indisputable that water quality is a determining factor in public health and ecosystems. The significant growth in population and industry results in a high demand for water, along with contaminating discharges, few of which are treated – and the impact upon the ecosystems is evident. This book addresses all these topics in a single volume, taking into account the challenges presented by the economic, institutional and environmental considerations in Mexico’s water policy framework.

Hilda R. Guerrero Garcia Rojas is a professor of economics & environment in the Facultad de Economia, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo (UMSNH), Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Toulouse School of Economics. She is among the leading water policy experts in Mexico and contributed to policy work in Mexico. Her Ph.D. thesis focused on “economic assessment of policy interventions in the water sector; industrial water demand in Mexico: econometric analysis and implications for water management policy.” She worked for Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua (IMTA) and as a consultant, she has been collaborating with the World Bank, Colegio de Mexico (COLMEX), OECD and with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Publication topics involving Guerrero include “Water pricing reforms in Mexico: The case of manufacturing sector”; “Applying water demand: Case for industrial use on Mexico”; “Water in Mexico: Impact of policy interventions in the sector”; “Water pricing reforms in Mexico: The case of the manufacturing sector”, among others. Guerrero’s areas of interest are natural resources and environmental economics, integrated water management (IWM), economic instruments applied to natural resources, water price and its reforms, applied economics, environmental economic valuation, micro-econometrics, climate change in water sector and economics of climate change.