The 2000 census indicated that 55% of Mexican households with access to piped water received services on an intermittent basis, in particular in smaller municipalities and poor areas.

In Mexico, wastewater discharges are classified as municipal (urban and rural public supply) and non-municipal (other uses such as self-supplied industry).

[13] Despite scarce resources in many Mexican regions water consumption is at a high level, partly favored by poor payment rates and low tariffs.

[14] Due to the strong growth of population and internal migration toward arid and semi-arid regions, many water resources in North and Central Mexico became overexploited.

Mexico's climate is another big contributor as to why some parts of the country have relatively low accessibility to clean and safe water.

Due to the different wind zones, two-thirds of Mexico is considered to be arid to semi-arid as the only receive about 500 mm of rain year round.

However, in November 2016, regions in the Yucatán peninsula and Tabasco actually had non-stop drought with the previous dry season, regarding it as the 40th driest month ever.

However, even considering the amount of groundwater resources available in Mexico, in 2016, aquifers mainly in Baja California indicating high level of saline soil and brackish water.

Primary sources reveal the Spaniards’ initial awe of the ingenuity and complexity of indigenous water systems, especially the construction of Tenochtitlan (now known as Mexico City), the capital city-state of the Mexica empire that was built in the center of an enormous lake.

[22] Preventing periodic and destructive flooding in Mexico City during the colonial era nearly forced the move of the capital to the mainland of the interior lake system.

Instead, the Spanish crown invested millions pesos and mobilized tens of thousands of indigenous men in compulsory labor to build a tunnel and then an open cut trench to drain waters out of the Basin of Mexico.

The Spanish facilitated a series of practices, which would eventually lead to ecological destruction, including constructing dams, burning woodlands, and diverting water from lakes and canals.

Moreover, the responsibility of water supply and sanitation was specifically designated to the federal government, a duty that was maintained for many decades post-revolution.

[24] In the second half of the 20th century, the Mexican water supply and sanitation sector has undergone several changes of organization to improve its performance.

Despite the creation of more specialized organizations at the national level, the federal government finally had no choice but to decentralize the services to the states and municipalities.

During his administration, municipalities were entrusted with providing water supply and sanitation services within the framework of a general decentralization process.

[29] In 2015 the government presented a new General Water Law, requiring municipalities to ensure the financial sustainability of service operators.

The law is opposed by civil society groups of the platform "Agua para Todos", saying it benefits the mining and energy industry at the expense of farmers and city dwellers.

The water operators' association ANEAS criticizes that the law neglects wastewater treatment and does not sufficiently address the issue of centralized decision-making and red tape.

Once viewed as a model of international cooperation, in recent decades the IBWC has been heavily criticized as an institutional anachronism, by-passed by modern social, environmental and political issues.

[29] In three Mexican cities, water and sanitation services are provided by private companies as of early 2011: Cancun, Saltillo and Aguascalientes.

[36] Services in Aguascalientes are provided by Proactivo Medio Ambiente, a joint venture between Veolia Environnement from France and the Spanish construction firm FCC for the Latin American market.

[37] As of 2011, the government planned to award further water concessions beginning with San Luis Potosí, Tijuana and Tuxtla Gutiérrez.

[40] The efficiency and quality of water and sanitation services vary widely, to a large extent reflecting different levels of development across the country.

However, it seems that the sector as a whole generates a little modest cash surplus, which seems to reflect shortfalls in essential spending on maintenance and modernization rather than financial efficiency.

[46] According to the water operators' association ANEAS, Mexico needs US$6.6 billion investments per year to make up for historic underinvestment.

[30] Investments are financed by federal (61% in 2011, up from 33% in 2005), state (23%, both in 2011 and 2005) and local subsidies (11% in 2011, down from 14% in 2005) and other sources (5% in 2011, down from 31% in 2005), the latter including self-financing, credits and private funding.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) support a Potable Water Quality Control Project in Mexico City since 2005.

The goal of both councils were to created programs that allocate water usage among regions in Mexico City, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, and Michoacan.

[56] Overall, the program is aimed at improving three things: access to safe water, sanitation, and health services to approximately 300 villages.