But the water table has fallen below sea-level, and the aquifer is being destroyed by saltwater seeping in from the sea. In recent years, however, there has been encouraging progress thanks to a new Mexican Water Law which stresses integrated water resources management at the basin and aquifer level, participatory management, and the use of tradable water rights. What has happened in Hermosillo is remarkable. First, there is a new partnership. It is the users who make the decisions while the government provides information and helps with enforcement.
Water is used much more efficiently and low value uses have stopped.
Amazingly, regional income and employment have actually increased while pumping has been reduced. We share it, distilling the lessons learned in places like Hermosillo and using them to inform groundwater management reforms in other parts of the world. For example, we took two Turkish officials to Mexico to see how farmers' associations were managing their local irrigation networks. They were impressed by what they saw and went back to Turkey determined to make similar changes. Today Turkey runs its irrigation systems the same way.