In the wake of the country's historic drought this year, the newly appointed director of Mexico's state-run National Water Commission (Conagua), German Arturo Martinez, has outlined his ambitions to improve the long-term resilience of water supply infrastructure in the country. While the beginning of the monsoon period has recently brought welcome rainfall, some 43% of the country remained in moderate to severe drought this month -down from over 70% in the spring. "We can no longer turn a deaf ear to the reality that every year confronts us with unprecedented problems," explained Martinez, who was appointed as Conagua's director last month. "We need to improve hydro-agricultural infrastructure to ensure that every drop of water is used consciously, and to start planning economic activities based on the availability of water in the country - for example by relocating certain water-intensive industries to the southeast instead of the north," he told GWI.
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