Yaqui people are first indigenous group to achieve water sovereignty in Mexico

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Yaqui community in Sonora has a long historical tradition of defending its culture, symbolism, uses and customs in different ways.

Since the 1930’s, the fight for the right to water management sovereignty has been one of their main struggles and on Monday, August 23, a precedent was set in this respect.

“The right to water for agricultural use that the 8 Yaqui peoples have historically demanded will finally become a reality with the historic approval of the draft presidential decree for the creation of Irrigation District 018, to be transferred to the Yaqui people for its collective administration, use and enjoyment,” the Mexican government published through a communiqué.

The decision was unanimously approved, which reflects a respect for the native peoples’ forms of communal organization in the republic, as well as the expectation that the Sonora Yaqui region will improve its quality of life in the 21st century.

According to the government, in Vícam Pueblo and Pótam, the two traditional capitals of the Yaqui people, a process of free, prior and informed consultation was held regarding the creation of the irrigation district. The next step is for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to sign the decree set for September 28.

“The purpose of the draft presidential decree approved is for the Yaqui people to exercise their right to water for agricultural use, established in the 1937 Presidential Agreement and in the presidential resolution issued by General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río,” said the spokesperson for the office of the Presidency of the Republic.

This irrigation district will be comprised of the 8 Yaqui towns (Vícam, Pótam, Tórim, Ráhum, Huírivis, Belem, Bácum and Cócorit); it will be supplied by the Álvaro Obregón dam (Oviachic), will have a total surface of 126,259 hectares located on the right and left banks of the Yaqui River and will have an initial capacity of 673 million m3, which will allow the irrigation of a potential surface of 61,223 hectares of crops.

In this respect, it is important to reiterate that the system will be administered by the indigenous community organization, which will define the operating mechanisms, the participation of localities and the requirements for providing the irrigation service.

The decision taken by the Yaqui peoples and recognized by the federal government marks a watershed for the legitimacy of the forms, uses and customs established among Mexico’s native peoples, who have different worldviews from the inhabitants of large cities in order to live and coexist in society.

Adelfo Regino Montes, General Director of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), acknowledged the significance of this agreement and said that it is in compliance with Cárdenas’s resolution to guarantee free water use in the region.

“Just as the Yaqui River gave life and identity to this people, we strongly hope that the approval of the decree to create Irrigation District Number 018 and its transfer to the Yaqui people will be the beginning of a new era in which the rights of the indigenous peoples are fully respected, and in a very special way, guarantee the Yaqui people’s right to water.”

Finally, the government assured that the consultation was conducted with full transparency, legality and plurality, with the purpose of ensuring the true will of the Yaqui people.