Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), 4 November 2026—On 1 November 2026, an individual who requested that their personal information be kept confidential (“the Submitter”) filed a submission with the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) under Chapter 24 of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (USMCA/CUSMA).

In submission SEM-26-011 (Water Shortage in Guadalajara), the submitter asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law with respect to the protection and quality of water resources in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, in the state of Jalisco. In particular, the Submitter points to alleged failures by the National Water Commission (Comisión Nacional del Agua—Conagua) and the Attorney General for Environmental Protection (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente—Profepa) to inspect, monitor and sanction illegal water withdrawals and toxic wastewater discharges from industrial and agricultural corridors on the periphery of the metropolitan area.

The Submitter maintains that, as a result, residents in various parts of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area receive water from the public supply network that is turbid and carries high levels of sediment and contaminants, affecting their rights to a healthy environment and to safe drinking water. The Submitter further asserts that the ongoing failure of law enforcement has allowed criminal activity to take hold around the control of wells and the deliberate contamination of the resource.

The Submitter cites Articles 86, 88, 119 and 120 of the National Waters Act (Ley de Aguas Nacionales—LAN) and Articles 117, 131, 161 and 162 of the General Act on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente—LGEEPA).

The Secretariat will review the submission and determine, within 30 days, whether it meets the requirements of USMCA/CUSMA Article 24.27(1), (2) and (3).

To learn more about the SEM process and for more detailed information on this matter, please consult the registry page for the submission SEM-26-011 (Water Shortage in Guadalajara).