In Baja California, policies and projects seen as limiting local water supplies have met with public opposition in recent years. (Photo by Ivan Martínez)
Controversy over construction of a massive export brewery in Baja California is stoking longstanding water-supply concerns in northern Mexico, drawing the attention in recent months of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the country’s courts. Visiting the state in March, López Obrador promised to examine allegations that the project plans of U.S.-based Constellation Brands—maker of Corona, Pacífico and other popular beers—underestimate water use and overstate employment impact in the drought-parched, job-starved region. He made the pledge after opponents of the brewery, which is under construction near the state capital of Mexicali, confronted him on a March 26 visit to that city. Speaking later in the day in nearby San Luis Río Colorado, he said: “I’m going to send experts to do an investigation, and [we] will act according to what best suits the general interest… Before anything else come water, food, life.” So far... [Log in to read more]
