Fights over water rights in Mexico’s arid north can be as unyielding as the parched landscape itself. In the northwest state of Sonora, the battle over an aqueduct to divert water from the Yaqui River basin to the city of Hermosillo is proving one of the fiercest. The Independence Aqueduct, a showpiece project for the state government, has attracted a barrage of lawsuits. But legal challenges haven’t halted the project. The aqueduct’s pipeline is completed and officials say that more than half of the projected volume of water it will carry is already flowing to Hermosillo, the state capital. Debate over the aqueduct pits farmers against the state’s industrial center, small wheat growers against agroindustry, and academics against government officials. Fueling it is the reality... [Log in to read more]