Huasteca Potosina environmental and water rights opposition

In early September 2026, the Contraloría Autónoma del Agua de la Huasteca Potosina (CAAHP) announced its 7th Regional Forum in Ciudad Valles. The forum was organized to establish legal protections for local ecosystems and indigenous rights against hydraulic and energy projects, specifically targeting fracking and the proposed Pánuco-Cerro Prieto aqueduct. At that time, the National Water Commission (Conagua) clarified that the aqueduct project was not formally reactivated, despite new environmental impact documentation being submitted by Monterrey water services.

By late September, following the forum, participants issued a formal demand for a presidential decree to prohibit hydraulic fracturing in the Huasteca Potosina and the Tampico-Misantla basin. The group sought to formalize previous commitments made by President Claudia Sheinbaum to protect regional ecosystems.

The advocates also called for the Chamber of Deputies to expedite constitutional processes to ban fracking. They maintained their opposition to the Pánuco-Cerro Prieto aqueduct, labeling it “socially and environmentally unfeasible” due to potential impacts on local agriculture and fishing. To defend the territory, the group planned to implement local legal instruments, including municipal regulations and ecological land-use planning.