On June 18 of this year, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Fernando López; the President of ANDA, Rubén Alemán, and the Legal Advisor of the Presidency, Javier Argueta, presented to the Legislative Assembly a piece of correspondence containing the Preliminary Draft of the General Water Resources Law, which, according to the President of ANDA, guarantees water access as a human right.
The Preliminary Draft presented contemplates three fundamental axes as regulations:
1. Water is a fundamental right for all.
2. The State will guarantee the proper use of the resource.
3. Water will not be privatized, in any context or any form.
Among the fundamental elements of the normative body are:
– Guarantee of non-privatization of the water resource.
– Definition of the State as guarantor of the water right.
– Creation of authority in charge of regulating the uses of the resource.
– Basin approach: water catchment and sanitation.
– Study and care of aquifers.
The President of the Legislative Assembly indicated that an Ad hoc Commission will be formed for the exclusive study of the draft bill presented, which will be reviewed in its 164 articles, within a maximum period of 3 months. He also pointed out that during the period of analysis of the proposal, the Commission will listen to all the sectors related to the water issue; and will ensure the care of the basins, reforestation; but above all that there will be no privatization of the water resource.