MEXICO CITY, March 23 (UPI) -- Some 12 million Mexicans still lack safe drinking water and the country could eventually confront an internal crisis, El Universal reported Wednesday.
The amount of available water has halved during the past 50 years due to contamination as well as wastefulness, Jaime Jaguez, director of Mexico's National Water Commission, told reporters.
Some experts say Mexico, with a population of 105 million, could face a water crisis within 15 years.
The leader of the National Peasant Confederation, Heladio Ramírez, echoed Jaguez, saying water shortages will soon spark disputes among different groups of users.
He estimated close to 23 million Mexicans are without sewers, most of them concentrated in rural areas with large Indian populations.
"A conflict is incubating everywhere amid the lack of a state policy for the rational use, preservation and security of the water supply for the next generations," Ramírez told reporters.
