Mexico City, October 11, 2017 – A core group of representative of industries (including Bimbo, Danone, Cuahtémoc Brewery, and Femsa Foundation), the Toluca Valley Business Council (representing more than 40 international and domestic industries with operations in the Toluca Valley), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Lerma River Commission (a local government body in charge of supporting multi-stakeholder participation in water resources management processes) met to discuss the progress made so far in the design of the Toluca Water Security Initiative (TWSI). The TWSI has the objective of supporting the efforts of government and civil society in facing severe groundwater exploitation and pursuing long-term water security for the Toluca Metropolitan Region, one of the most important industrial regions in the country.

During the meeting, the 2030WRG representative presented some reflections on how to face the groundwater management challenges faced in the Toluca Metropolitan Region, suggesting that a central element of TWSI should be to establish the Groundwater Management Technical Committee or COTAS (Comité Técnico de Aguas Subterráneas). The COTAS are multi-stakeholder platforms that exist in the National Water Law as the institutions entrusted with enabling participatory groundwater management and producing a groundwater management plan. This was followed by a presentation of the CEVAT who has been working with CONAGUA and the Lerma River Commission to establish the Toluca Valley Aquifer’s COTAS. The plan is to launch the COTAS before the end of the year.

Finally, the representatives of the Lerma River Commission presented the Lerma River Basin Integrated Conservation and Restoration Strategy, a comprehensive strategy that seeks to systematically address the pervasive water pollution and environmental degradation challenges faced in the region. It was agreed by the core group of representatives in the meeting to fully endorsed the establishment of the COTAS and to find ways to jointly participate in the implementation of the River Basin Integrated Strategy.