Rule of law and water use. Disputes around a beer production project in Baja California, Mexico

Abstract

This research investigates the relevance of the Rule of Law in the governance of water in Mexico. Taking a highly relevant though multifaceted idea –Rule of Law– as a framework for analysis, a survey and descriptive statistics approach is used to study a problem triggered by inadequate decision-making on the use of the liquid: The project to install a brewery plant in the Mexicali Valley, in the state of Baja California. The results indicate that the Rule of Law encounters obstacles to its realization, since basic conditions for its existence are unfulfilled, prevailing processes of exclusion from access to its enjoyment for broad social sectors; In this situation, the avoidance of legality weakens the expected institutionality in a democratic society. They also reveal the negative effect produced by the rationality of dominant usage; especially, in the face of economic growth initiatives that are highly demanding of the liquid. In order to improve governance and contribute to the better use of water resources, an institutional reform is proposed through a policy that includes three major actions: (1) review and determine responsibilities, and apply the law, on omissions or irregular procedures of officials in charge; (2) promote a legal-administrative renewal that accommodates the plurality of voices and privileges the public perspective of adequate use; and (3) generate an educational model of public action prone to the convergence of interests around the objective of better use.