The Water Crisis in Monterrey

MONTERREY, NL: The first night I arrived in Monterrey, I was invited to the premier of a short film at a theater in the center of the city. It seemed fortuitous. The film, to my surprise, was about water in Monterrey–specifically the lack of it. That is, Monterrey and other cities in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León are in trouble. Last year, due to a lack of water, the department of Agua and Drainage began turning off supplies to schools and houses. 

The shortage of water is the result of about 6 years of dry weather and poor management of water resources. For several years, rainfall has been down and reservoirs increasingly empty. The ire of the people, however, falls not on the sky, but on the large companies that operate in Monterrey. It is known that businesses consume 54% of the water in the city. Chief among them are two very thirsty businesses, the brewery Cervecería Cuauhtémoc (now owned by Heineken,) which produces Dos Equis, Tecate, India, and more, and FEMSA, which bottles Coca-Cola products for Mexico. 

It is important to consider, of course, that Monterrey is situated in a semi-arid landscape and surrounded by mountains. Water, in the city’s history, has been an issue due to both its short supply and its sudden surplus. In both 1988 and 2010, Hurricane’s Gilbert and Alex, respectively, pummeled the city with rain, breaking dams, washing out bridges, and tearing up parks in the Santa Catarina River that normally runs dry through the city. The issue today, though, is that of drought. 

The short film titled, La Ultima Gota or The Last Drop, premiered following several short videos by GreenPeace on water access in the Central Valley of Mexico and some student projects focused on water supply. The film itself was an experimental short set in a sort of post-apocalyptic world after “Day Zero” when water had run out. In the film, society has unraveled and food always comes out of cans in a depressing sludgy manner. Cooking, I guess, is out of the question without water. 

The film’s description is as follows: “The Last Drop” is a short film that takes us into a dystopian world set in the year 2047, where global warming has reached critical levels. In this context, day zero is an event that marks the moment when public drinking water services stop functioning, plunging society into unprecedented chaos. The plot follows Sergio and Maite, a young couple who face the harsh reality of living in a world where the lack of food and water is the norm. The movie explores the precarious and desperate conditions they must face to survive in an uncertain and desolate future, where day zero is just the beginning of a struggle for survival.”

While the film doesn’t delve into the technical side of Monterrey’s problem, its existence shows just how serious the water shortage is to the Regiomontanos of Nuevo León. All of the student films and the short were the effort of local students and artists. The convergence of ideas on this one topic and the amount of effort exerted without profit in mind shows genuine concern. 

Speaking with folks around Monterrey, memories of 2022’s water shortages are real and bizarre–almost Pandemic like. Behaviors needed to change to adapt to the shortage. People told me that they woke up at 4 AM to take showers before the water was turned off. They filled tubs when they could for dishwashing. There was a run on the market for large hard plastic storage tanks–we are talking mini water towers that hold thousands of liters of water. 

The government only supplied water from 4 AM to 11 AM for some time. Families carried all kinds of jugs to public water distribution points, hauling the liquid back home. In some areas, the government had to send trucks of water. Publimetro even reported that the governor of the state publicly asked residents to light candles that it might rain. 

So, did I drink Monterrey’s finicky water supply? No. I drank water only from 20 liter tanks purchased at the store and refilled at local spouts. This, I have learned, is the way most Mexicans drink water, from the garrafón.