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00225u 54 percent of the total), about 19 percent were polluted. Adequate drinking water and sewage dis- posal are of concern. About 13 million people lack adequate drinking water and sewage treatment and only about 24 percent of the water /\ collected are treated. About 18 percent of the ~( country's total water supply is untreated. In \! II some areas of Mexico, the cultural norm is to not ~ay for such services. The National Water Commission has the ability to issue permits for water and discharges and therefore can help to distribute water where it is needed. But part of the problem is a lack of resources to verify the water is used in the place and manner in which the government was told it would be. Consequently, it is a challenge to keep track of water users and uses. Sometimes, users just want to have a water reserve and are accumulating the water either for storage or to . res:.ll for profit. ''" ~water marketing is aAother option to improve ;;;; the water deficit, but it is a very expensive proposal for most water users. Water conserva- iOn is one method of increasing the supply, especially with regards to irrigation efficiency. This will require convincing water users that it is necessary to conserve in order to accommodate growth. The best instrument we have for in- creasing efficiency and conservation is to ana- lyze and revise the water permits, but that will require a great deal of manpower and financial resources. ~&A (VERBATIM): Q: JIM DAVENPORT: My question is whether a water right in Mexico which was based, which was a water right used for irriga- tion by an irrigation district, which right pre- dates the 1992 water law and is not registered or confirmed as a concession by 2002, will that right continue as an effective water right? A: MARIO ALFONSO CANTU SUAREZ: This is a very important question because it is a problem throughout Mexico. There are about 6,000 water users registered in the agriculture sector where we have to apply the 1992 water law. The 6,000 became identified because we made an investigation with the electricity commission and we wanted to know which were using the subsidy. We wanted to know whether the water user was working on agriculture and they were complying with the law. When we made this cross investigation we discovered about 6,000. They came to us and they told us they were not able to do it [register their water rights as required by the 1992 water law] for this or that reason, and they are out now [their old irrigation rights are extinguished]. The only way to solve it [this problem] would be through a presidential decree where the president of Mexico would authorize them [the CNA] [under the terms of 1995 and 1996] so they [CNA] can issue another permit or concession [to the water user in the agricultural sector]. ~we have 99,000 users in the agriculture sector, and of these only 57,000 are registered with us [CNA]. The difference, we do not know where they are. The size of the problem can be as serious as having 42,000 left out, but we do not know if it's because of the electric power com- mission or not. So, we want to establish a new law so if they do not go to the water commis- sion, then we are going to turn this over to the electric commission so we can regulate these people that have a permit and are using it. We are waiting for a determination by the president of Mexico. But anyway, we have a very serious problem. Thank you. COLORADO RIvER DELTA BI-NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS ENGLISH 31