Dear Clients and Friends:
On December 4, 2025, the new General Water Law was approved, a structural reform that redefines the national water framework and will have profound, long-term implications for the mining industry. The new model places human and domestic use as the absolute priority, while shifting productive activities, including mining, into a more restricted, heavily supervised regime where access to water is subject to discretionary reassignment by the authority.
One of the most significant implications is the elimination of any possibility to transfer water rights. Concessions cease to function as strategic assets that can be reorganized among companies, projects, or corporate units, and instead become strictly personal, non-transferable rights subject to continuous review. This dismantles traditional water-planning mechanisms in the mining sector, such as advance acquisition of titles, internal redistribution of volumes, or reliance on historical rights to support operational expansion.
The new reassignment system becomes the central axis of water management. Volumes that expire, are returned, or otherwise lose validity will be incorporated into the National Water Reserve Fund, remaining under the exclusive control of the Water Authority. As a result, the mining industry will no longer be able to recover, negotiate, or exchange rights that were previously available on the market, limiting operational flexibility and complicating the development or expansion of projects that rely on new or additional water sources.
The reform significantly tightens the technical and administrative requirements to obtain or maintain concessions, incorporating grounds for automatic dismissal in the event of any documentary omission or failure to meet information requirements. The authority is granted enhanced inspection powers, including the ability to access classified information related to potential violations, thereby increasing regulatory scrutiny over extraction, conveyance, reuse, and discharge processes in mining operations.
For the mining industry, the incorporation of concepts such as overexploitation—determined by the authority based on natural recharge capacity—adds a new layer of regulatory risk, as it may condition the continuity, reduction, or suspension of authorized volumes in areas historically dedicated to extractive activities. This is compounded by the principle of water responsibility, which obliges users to adopt verifiable measures for efficiency, reuse, treatment, and sustainable management under stricter standards aligned with international best practices.
The sanctions regime also becomes more severe. Any diversion of channels, alteration of water bodies, transfer to third parties, change in use, or failure to comply with discharge parameters may result in fines, temporary or permanent closures, and even the revocation of concessions. The reform also introduces specific criminal offenses related to illegal extraction and corruption in concession procedures, increasing both the legal and reputational consequences of any irregularity.
Taken together, the new law reconfigures the operational structure of the mining sector with respect to water management. The inability to transfer titles, the centralized control of volumes, the restrictions on new sources of supply, strengthened inspections, and expanded technical responsibilities transform water management into a critical compliance pillar.
Mining companies will need to anticipate immediate adjustments in planning, permitting, water-infrastructure investments, reuse processes, and environmental compliance systems to ensure operational continuity under a more rigid, closely monitored regulatory framework designed to prioritize human consumption.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding the foregoing, please do not hesitate to call your usual contact with the Firm.
Mining Practice
Pablo Méndez / pablo.mendez@ecrubio.com
Alejandro Guerra / alejandro.guerra@ecrubio.com
Jorge Hernández / jorge.hernandez@ecrubio.com
Daniel Rico / daniel.rico@ecrubio.com
Martín Miranda / martin.miranda@ecrubio.com
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