The Institutional Challenges in the Sanitation of the Municipalities in Mexico: The Case of Zacatecas

Abstract

In the last decade, the State of Zacatecas has had significant progress in the construction of treatment plants. This progress comes from a state intervention that has centralized the treatment in urban areas with plants of advanced technology. As a result, this has allowed the state to pass from a national position, of one of the lowest levels of wastewater treatment, to an intermediate position, whereby approximately half of the treatment plants operate. Despite this progress, it is necessary to identify and analyze the limitations that municipalities face in the treatment of wastewater, from an institutional capacity perspective. This analysis is based on the state and official national inventories (and other sources) on treatment plants, a review of regulatory compliance and semi-structured interviews with officials involved in the matter. The importance of the urban factor in water treatment is highlighted, as well as the lack of a long-term action program. Methodologically, changes in official sources stand out, making evaluation difficult over time.