By Alejandro Calvillo, Luis Alonso Robledo, and Norberto Francisco Hernández-Llanes
“It’s Not Drought, It’s Plunder”
The alcohol industry, especially beer giants, extract vast amounts of water, impacting access to this vital liquid in communities across Mexico. Much of this enormous extraction takes place in water-stressed regions, and its main destination is for export.
Beer is the main product exported by Mexico, with a production valued at more than $6 billion, followed by tequila, with about $4.4 billion.[1]
The harm caused by the products and practices of alcohol companies has a severe impact on the health and welfare of Mexicans, with damages estimated at 552.2 billion pesos, equivalent to 2.1% of Mexico’s GDP.[2]
World Water Day: A Call for Justice
On the occasion of World Water Day, the Alcohol Action Network (RASA in Spanish) highlights the inequality in the distribution of water and the problems caused by its overexploitation for commercial purposes. It is estimated that 12 million people in Mexico do not have access to drinking water.[3]
For this reason, the drought and the overexploitation of water resources in our country could aggravate the water crisis and cause more people to lose access to this fundamental human right. With Mexico facing water scarcity in various regions, people and communities are concerned about commercial exploitation of scarce water and the expression “It’s not drought, it’s plunder” has emerged.
The extractive practices of the beer industry have led to demands by local communities that breweries be shut down because of the water shortages they cause.”
Alejandro Calvillo, Luis Alonso Robledo, and Norberto Francisco Hernández-Llanes
According to CONAGUA’s public and open data on concessions, allocations, permits granted and the register of water works[4], the liquor and beer industries have water concessions for an annual extraction volume of 243,957,935 m3. Of this amount, 94.9% corresponds to the brewing industry. This volume would satisfy the drinking water needs of the 9,209,944 inhabitants of the Mexico City for 72 days.
In the face of these enormous amounts of water extracted by the alcohol industry in our country, we must not forget that water is a vital resource, necessary for the development of society and fundamental to people’s health. We must not allow this water, which could meet people’s basic needs, to become, in many cases, a product that materializes in violence, non-communicable diseases and social problems.
From Crisis to Outcry: Communities Call For Change
The extractive practices of the brewing industry in communities such as Hunucmá, in Yucatán,[5] or Cinco Manantiales, in Coahuila[6] have led residents to demand that breweries be reduced or even shut down in their communities because of the water shortages they cause.
Another controversial case was that of the Constellation Brands plant in Mexicali, which was canceled by presidential decree and relocated to the state of Veracruz after the community opposed its construction.[7] Also in Oaxaca, the industrial production of mezcal by large alcohol companies is leaving several communities without water, such as the Tlacolula Valley, Matatlán and Yautepec[8], while displacing local artisanal producers.
The problems are compounded by the massive harm due to alcohol: alcohol causes more than 42,000 deaths per year, nearly 5 deaths per hour.
It is also responsible for more than 200 diseases, injuries and adverse health conditions, including mental health problems, cancer, liver disease, violence and suicide.[10]
And alcohol harm affects vulnerable and marginalized communities disproportionately, such as Mexico’s indigenous communities.
RASA’s Call: People Before Profits
According to the National Human Rights Commission, the human right to water is indispensable for a dignified life and is a precondition for the realization of other human rights. Therefore, water should be treated as a social good rather than an economic good.[9]
We in RASA call on the Mexican government to protect water and natural resources from industries that generate pollution and overexploitation. The guarantee of the human right to water must take precedence over the private interests of the large brewing and liquor industries, whose products undermine the health of our people while monopolizing access to vital resources, such as water.
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Sources
[1] Hernández, E. (2024). Cerveza, el agroalimento de México más exportado en 2023. Nota periodística. Forbes México. México. Disponible en:https://forbes.com.mx/cerveza-el-agroalimento-de-mexico-mas-exportado-en-2023/
[2] Economics for Health. (2025). Economic Costs by Alcohol in Mexico. Disponible en: https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/economic-costs-by-alcohol-in-mexico/
[3] Toche, N. (2023). En México 12 millones de personas carecen de acceso a agua potable. Nota periodística. El Economista. México. Disponible en: https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/politica/En-Mexico-12-millones-de-personas-carecen-de-acceso-a-agua-potable-20230322-0009.html
[4] CONAGUA. (2023). Concesiones, asignaciones, permisos otorgados y registros de obras situadas en zonas de libre alumbramiento de CONAGUA. CONAGUA, México. Disponible en: https://www.datos.gob.mx/busca/dataset/concesiones-asignaciones-permisos-otorgados-y-registros-de-obras-situadas-en-zonas-de-libre-alu
[5] El Sol Yucatán. (2025). ¡No es sequía, es saqueo! Nota periodística. El Sol Yucatán. México. Disponible en: https://solyucatan.mx/no-es-sequia-es-saqueo/
[6] Liñan-Delgadillo, F. (2022). Exigen agricultores cerrar la llave a Constellation. Nota periodística. Zócalo Saltillo. México. Disponible en: https://superchannel12.com/598617/Exigen-agricultores-cerrar-la-llave-a-Constellation
[7] Infobae. (2020). López Obrador reveló que Constellation Brands aceptó reubicar su planta cervecera. Nota periodística. EFE. México. Disponible en: https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/04/01/lopez-obrador-revelo-que-constellation-brands-acepto-reubicar-su-planta-cervecera/
[8] Cambio 22. (2025). Deja Sin Agua a Regiones Mezcaleras de Oaxaca Producción Masiva de Mezcal Para Mercado Internacional. Nota periodística. Cambio 22. Mexico. Disponible en: https://diariocambio22.mx/deja-sin-agua-a-regiones-mezcaleras-de-oaxaca-produccion-masiva-de-mezcal-para-mercado-internacional/
[9] Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos. (2014). El derecho humano al agua potable y al saneamiento. México, CNDH. Disponible en: https://www.cndh.org.mx/sites/default/files/documentos/2019-08/Derecho-Humano-Agua-PS.pdf
[10] Babor, T. F., Casswell, S., Graham, K., Huckle, T., Livingston, M., Österberg, E., Rehm, J., Room, R., Rossow, I., & Sornpaisarn, B. (2022). Alcohol: No ordinary commodity. En T. F. Babor, S. Casswell, K. Graham, T. Huckle, M. Livingston, E. Österberg, J. Rehm, R. Room, I. Rossow, & B. Sornpaisarn, Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity (3.ª ed., pp. 13-25). Oxford University PressOxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192844484.003.0002
