A/HRC/36/45/Add.2 C. Policy framework 15. A number of strategic national plans relating to human rights, development and the rights to water and sanitation have been drawn up. 1 A prominent national plan in the water and sanitation sector is the National Programme for Water Management 2014-2018, which recognizes the human right to water and includes the objective of strengthening access to drinking water and sanitation services. The needs of rural populations are recognized and the Plan outlines the requirement to guarantee their access to water and sanitation, including through the use of alternative systems. Strategies to attain those goals combine increasing coverage of services, improving efficiency, and coordinating with other relevant programmes and institutions. The Special Rapporteur notes that the right to sanitation is not included with sufficient clarity in the Plan and calls for greater clarity in that regard. III. Human rights to water and sanitation A. Availability and accessibility 16. Government officials informed the Special Rapporteur that 94 per cent of the population of Mexico has drinking water coverage, while for sanitation provision the figure is 93 per cent. Those levels of coverage show that service providers are capable of effectively promoting implementation of the rights to water and sanitation. Nevertheless, it is essential to highlight that those figures, while impressive, reflect only the existence of some form of infrastructure coverage, not the actual extent of access to water and sanitation in people’s homes, which is dramatically lower. 1. Water 17. There remain significant sectors of the population in Mexico for whom the provision of safe water is extremely limited or non-existent. While demand is growing, it is estimated that by 2030 in some of the country’s hydrological-administrative regions, the per capita renewable water resources will reach levels close to or lower than 1,000 m3 per inhabitant per year, a condition classified as water scarcity. 2 The central, northern and north-western areas have experienced high degrees of water stress. Federal authorities noted that drought conditions affect large parts of those regions, with 16 states affected by drought. Moreover, 8 of the country’s 13 river basins experienced high or very high water stress levels in 2015. The lack of continuous and sufficient access to water is also related to overexploitation of aquifers 3 for reasons including the need to supply water-intensive residential, industrial, agribusiness, touristic, extractive and developmental projects. Civil society organizations noted that that is detrimental to the continuous personal and domestic water supply. 18. Even within Mexico City, the picture of water availability is highly varied, with continuous and reliable water provision unavailable to the majority of the population. The aquifer supplying the city is the most overexploited in the country. That situation is replicated in other parts of the country, with some regions experiencing severe water shortages. For example, in Filomeno Mata in Veracruz State, it is disturbing that the availability of safe drinking water is critical and in need of urgent intervention for the urban community of over 13,000 inhabitants. While piped water and sanitation infrastructure is in place, households receive drinking water for only three hours per month on a rotational basis under a failing water system. Community members stated that sometimes they do not receive piped water for three months. The community is almost entirely reliant on natural 1 2 3 6 Such as the National Development Plan 2013-2018 and the National Human Rights Programme 20142018. Mexico, National Water Commission, Statistics on Water in Mexico, 2016 edition (Mexico City, Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, 2016), p. 182. Available at http://201.116.60.25/publicaciones/EAM_i_2016.pdf. Of the 653 aquifers, 106 are overexploited. See www.aguas.org.mx/sitio/index.php/panorama-delagua/diagnosticos-del-agua.