Water Concession Application Mexico (Solicitud de Concesión de Aguas Nacionales)

A Water Concession Application Mexico (Solicitud de Concesión de Aguas Nacionales) is the formal written petition submitted to the Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA) — Mexico's federal water authority — requesting the legal right to extract, use, divert, or exploit national water resources (aguas nacionales) for a specified purpose, volume, and period. The application is governed primarily by Articles 21 through 26 of the Ley de Aguas Nacionales (LAN), published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 1 December 1992 and substantially reformed in April 2004 and June 2020, together with its Reglamento (RLAN) published in the DOF on 12 January 1994.

All surface water (aguas superficiales) and groundwater (aguas subterráneas) in Mexico is classified as national property (bienes nacionales) under Article 27 of the Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos of 5 February 1917 and Article 3 of the LAN. No person — natural or legal, public or private — may legally extract or use national water resources without first obtaining a concession title (título de concesión) or assignment (asignación) from CONAGUA, except for minor domestic uses expressly exempted under Article 18 LAN. Unauthorized extraction of national waters constitutes an infraction subject to fines, administrative closure of extraction works, and criminal penalties under Articles 119 and 120 LAN.

CONAGUA administers water concessions through thirteen Organismos de Cuenca (basin organizations) and their corresponding Direcciones Locales, corresponding to Mexico's major hydrological-administrative regions. The specific Organismo de Cuenca with jurisdiction over the application depends on the location of the water body (cuerpo de agua) or aquifer (acuífero) from which extraction is sought. CONAGUA publishes availability declarations (declaratorias de disponibilidad) for each basin and aquifer on its web portal at gob.mx/conagua — applications for water from over-exploited aquifers (acuíferos sobreexplotados) or basins in deficit face additional scrutiny and may be denied regardless of the applicant's credentials.

Article 21 LAN specifies that concession applications must be filed at the CONAGUA Dirección Local of the watershed where the water source is located, or electronically through the Trámites del Agua portal. The application must contain the information and documents specified in Article 21 LAN and Articles 17 through 24 of the RLAN, including proof of land ownership or lawful possession (título de propiedad or contrato de arrendamiento), technical justification of the requested volume (memory of calculation — memoria de cálculo hidráulica), location maps (planos de localización), and evidence of the intended beneficial use (uso del agua).

CONAGUA classifies water concessions according to their intended use under Article 21 LAN: uso agrícola (irrigation), uso público urbano (urban public supply), uso industrial (industrial processes), uso pecuario (livestock), uso acuacultura (aquaculture), uso generación de energía eléctrica (power generation), uso doméstico (domestic private use), and uso de conservación ecológica (ecological flows). Each use type carries different fee rates under the Ley Federal de Derechos (LFD), different volume limitations, and different priority hierarchies when water availability is insufficient to satisfy all pending applications. The Registro Público de Derechos de Agua (REPDA), maintained by CONAGUA under Article 32 LAN, records all existing concessions and is publicly searchable — applicants should consult REPDA before filing to verify available volumes in the target aquifer or basin.

A water concession title (título de concesión) once granted specifies the authorized annual volume (volumen anual concesionado) expressed in cubic meters per year (m³/año), the extraction point coordinates (coordenadas geográficas del punto de extracción), the depth of the well (profundidad del pozo) for groundwater concessions, the authorized use, the concession term (plazo), and the conditions and restrictions attached to the right. Concession terms under Article 24 LAN range from a minimum of five years to a maximum of thirty years, renewable subject to demonstrated beneficial use and continued availability of the resource. Concession holders must pay annual water use fees (derechos de agua) to the SAT under the LFD and must install and operate measuring devices (medidores volumétricos) certified by CONAGUA under Article 29 LAN.

The right to use water under a concession is transferable with CONAGUA authorization under Article 33 LAN, and may be mortgaged or pledged as collateral for credits related to the water use activity. Concession holders who fail to use the authorized volume for two consecutive years without justified cause risk partial or total forfeiture of the concession under Article 29-BIS LAN. CONAGUA inspectors (inspectores de CONAGUA) have authority to enter premises, inspect extraction works, and verify volumetric records under Article 87 LAN — compliance with reporting and metering obligations is therefore critical for concession holders.

A Water Concession Application Mexico is required in every situation where a person, company, or government entity intends to extract or use national water resources beyond the minor domestic exemption under Article 18 of the Ley de Aguas Nacionales. The application must be filed with CONAGUA before any extraction work begins — commencing operations without a título de concesión is an infraction subject to fines of up to 50,000 times the daily minimum wage under Article 119 LAN.

The application is required when an agricultural producer (productor agrícola) intends to irrigate crops from a river, stream, canal, lake, or groundwater well located on their land or adjacent to it. Mexico's agricultural sector accounts for approximately 76% of total national water use, and agricultural concessions represent the largest category of titles in the Registro Público de Derechos de Agua (REPDA). Ejidos and comunidades agrarias that irrigate land under the Ley Agraria must also obtain individual or collective water concessions — the agrarian right to land (derecho agrario) does not automatically confer the right to use national water resources.

The solicitud de concesión de aguas nacionales is needed when an industrial company — a manufacturing plant (planta industrial), a mining operation, a food processing facility, or a construction project — requires process water (agua de proceso), cooling water, or water for dust suppression. Industrial water users must justify the requested volume through a certified hydraulic engineer's memory of calculation (memoria de cálculo hidráulica) and demonstrate wastewater treatment compliance under the Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente (LGEEPA) before CONAGUA will grant the industrial concession.

The application is required when a real estate developer, condominium, or housing development (fraccionamiento) intends to supply drinking water to residents through a private water system rather than connecting to the municipal network (red municipal de agua potable). Private water supply systems serving populations of more than fifty people fall under the uso público urbano classification and require a CONAGUA concession with additional conditions including water quality monitoring under the Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-127-SSA1-2021 (potable water quality standards).

A water concession application is also needed when an existing concession holder seeks to modify the authorized volume, change the extraction point, change the permitted use, or extend the concession term beyond its expiry date. Article 23 LAN governs modifications to existing concession titles — modification applications follow the same procedural requirements as original applications and require demonstration of continued availability under updated CONAGUA availability declarations.

For aquaculture operators (acuicultores), hotels with swimming pools or water parks, golf courses, and other commercial recreational water users, a CONAGUA concession for the relevant uso (acuacultura, uso servicios) is mandatory regardless of the size of the operation. The Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (SADER) coordinates with CONAGUA on aquaculture concession processing under the Ley General de Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables.

Under Article 29-BIS-3 LAN, water concession applications may be processed through CONAGUA's Ventanilla Única (single-window system) — applicants should verify current processing requirements at the Dirección Local corresponding to the aquifer or basin involved, as documentation requirements and availability conditions vary significantly by hydrological region.

A valid Water Concession Application Mexico under Ley de Aguas Nacionales arts. 21–26 and the Reglamento de la Ley de Aguas Nacionales must include the following elements to be accepted by CONAGUA for processing and to support a favorable concession decision.

Applicant Identification: Full legal name of the applicant — if a natural person (persona física), their full name, RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes), CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población), and official identification number; if a legal entity (persona moral), the company's razón social, RFC, inscription number in the Registro Público de Comercio, and name and identification of the authorized legal representative (representante legal) with notarized power of attorney (poder notarial ante Notario Público). For ejidos, the resolution of the asamblea ejidal authorizing the application and the name of the comisariado ejidal acting as representative.

Description of Water Source: Precise identification of the water body (cuerpo de agua) or aquifer (acuífero) from which extraction is sought, including the official CONAGUA name of the aquifer or river basin, the hydrological-administrative region (región hidrológico-administrativa), and the CONAGUA Organismo de Cuenca with jurisdiction. For groundwater applications, the depth of the proposed well (profundidad del pozo) and the technical characteristics of the aquifer layer (formación acuífera) as determined by a certified hydrogeologist.

Requested Volume and Extraction Specifications: The annual volume of water sought (volumen anual solicitado) expressed in cubic meters per year (m³/año), the maximum instantaneous extraction rate (gasto máximo instantáneo) in liters per second (l/s), the extraction method (bomba eléctrica, bombeo solar, gravedad), and the coordinates of the extraction point in UTM or geographic coordinates (longitud y latitud). The memory of hydraulic calculation (memoria de cálculo hidráulica) prepared by a certified civil or hydraulic engineer (Ingeniero Civil o Hidráulico con cédula profesional) must justify the requested volume based on demonstrated need.

Intended Use and Justification: Specification of the intended use category (uso del agua) under Article 21 LAN — agricultural, industrial, domestic, aquaculture, public urban, power generation, or ecological. A detailed technical justification (justificación técnica) explaining how the requested volume will be used, including crop type and irrigated area for agricultural use; process description and water balance for industrial use; or population served and per-capita consumption for domestic/urban use. The justification must demonstrate that the volume requested does not exceed what is strictly necessary (volumen estrictamente necesario) per Article 22 LAN.

Land Ownership or Possession Documents: Certified copy of the land title (título de propiedad inscrito en el Registro Público de la Propiedad) or other lawful possession document demonstrating the applicant's right to use land adjacent to or overlying the water source. For agricultural ejido lands, the certificado de derechos ejidales or dominio pleno title under the Ley Agraria.

Location Maps and Technical Plans: Official topographic map (carta topográfica) at 1:50,000 scale showing the extraction point and its geographic coordinates; plan of the hydraulic works (planos de obras hidráulicas) showing well design, pump specifications, and distribution infrastructure; and for surface water diversions, a plan showing the diversion structure (obra de toma) and its relationship to the water body.

SAT Payment Receipt: Proof of payment of the application processing fee (derechos de trámite) to the SAT under the Ley Federal de Derechos — fee amounts vary by use type and requested volume and are published annually in the DOF as part of the LFD reform.

CONAGUA Availability Check: Confirmation that the target aquifer or basin has declared availability (disponibilidad) as published by CONAGUA under Article 22 LAN — applications for water from aquifers declared in deficit or over-exploitation will be denied regardless of other documentation. The availability declaration for each aquifer is published in the DOF and available at gob.mx/conagua.

Forms-legal.com provides this Water Concession Application Mexico template as a practical starting point for applicants preparing their CONAGUA submission. Water concession applications are technically complex documents requiring certified hydraulic engineering studies, official cartographic materials, and legal documentation coordinated across multiple government registries. Applicants are strongly advised to retain a licensed Licenciado en Derecho specializing in derecho de aguas and a certified Ingeniero Hidráulico before filing — errors in the technical justification or missing documentation are the most common causes of application rejection and delay in the CONAGUA processing timeline, which typically runs six to eighteen months for standard groundwater concessions.