Ramos Arizpe is a medium-sized city in the north of Mexico, about three hours’ drive from the Texas border. According to the 2020 census, its population was 122,243, with the vast majority living in the city’s urban area. Ramos Arizpe is located north of Saltillo, the capital of the state of Coahuila, and it houses more than half of the industries located in the metropolitan area of Saltillo.
From the beginning, the process leading to the privatization of the Ramos Arizpe water system was not transparent. In July 2012, Mayor Ramon Oceguera presented to the city council structural problems with the local water system. Because these problems caused operational and administrative failures, Oceguera said it had been determined that a public-private partnership would be established to work on the required structural changes. He did not specify who had determined this, though local press claimed that both the State Governor, and the State Secretary of Urbanism, Water and Land Planning, Oscar Pimentel—who was Saltillo’s mayor when that city’s water system was privatized in 2001—participated in formulating this plan. Although Mayor Oceguera promised that this process would respect the community, he did not inform or consult with citizens at any time.
The joint venture, called Aguas de Ramos Arizpe (AGRA), received control over the water system in October 2012. Its ownership was divided among the Ramos Arizpe municipality (owning 51 percent); Aguas de Saltillo (AGSAL), a subsidiary of Aguas de Barcelona, a multinational corporation based in Spain (owning 48 percent); and the Coahuila state government (owning 1 percent). The new company began operations on January 1, 2013. AGRA’s profit motive was evident right from the start. All consumption and service rates were doubled immediately to bring them in line with those in Saltillo. The minimum consumption rate was increased for users who did not have a meter (who were the majority). Water bills increased up to four times their original cost. Users were saddled with new fees for meter and household water intake replacements. Debts demanded by AGRA were exorbitant, up to tens of thousands of Mexican pesos. Users with more than two months’ debt were disconnected from services and charged a reconnection fee of approximately five times the previous minimum monthly rate.
During the 15 months of its administration, AGRA did not meet the city council’s explicit requests to guarantee the quality and supply of drinking water, ensure that tariffs were not significantly increased, and reduce leaks. The social cost of the utility privatization, meanwhile, was very high. A significant number of users filed complaints and legal processes (amparos) for violations of the human right to water.
When mayoral elections were held in July 2013, all candidates received a citizen petition asking them to remunicipalize the water system if they were elected, and all pledged to comply. Ricardo Aguirre won the election and was sworn in on January 1, 2014. The city council approved the remunicipalization of the system at its first session. On April 11, the new Ramos Arizpe Municipal Water Company (COMPARA) assumed control.
Efforts to remunicipalize the Ramos Arizpe water system did not come without challenges. The private partner, AGSAL, resisted surrendering its ownership share, as it was a very profitable business with huge financial compensation for company officials. AGSAL finally agreed to withdraw after being promised 24 million pesos (about 1.2 million US dollars) in exchange for shares that cost them 8 million pesos, only 15 months earlier.
Today, the remunicipalized water company is in a reasonably healthy financial position. COMPARA has drilled new wells and provided maintenance for existing ones. Community members are more satisfied; there have been no demonstrations against COMPARA by Ramos Arizpe inhabitants.
At the same time, due to scarce rainfall in recent years, supplying adequate water continues to be a problem. The main areas of improvement remaining for COMPARA concern the technical and administrative aspects of the company: physical leaks are still common; “potable” water quality is not very good; batch water distribution is common; and, the need to increase the participation of informed community members in the administrative council.
Despite these challenges, COMPARA remains an example in Mexico and throughout the world of what is possible when communities get organized and demand public ownership of their utilities.