The limits and ambiguities of water markets in Western Mexico: (il)legal groundwater grabbing in rural and periurban regions

In Mexico, a clear form of water commodification is the system of concession titles, which, since its inception, has promoted the formation of a black market for permits. With a research strategy based on institutional ethnography, this article analyses the practices of state actors in creating the conditions for (il)legal groundwater grabbing in two regions of the state of Jalisco in Western Mexico. The first, known as the Highlands of Jalisco, is a semi-arid region with intensive agricultural production, and the second is the periurban fringe of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, where the competition for water rights introduces new speculative actors. The article traces the processes of concentration of rights in both regions and the networks of actors within and external to state institutions who take part in the informal market for water rights. From a political ecology perspective, the article characterizes the institutional practices, actors and power relations that define the workings of the market for water concessions, as well as the socio-ecological implications of the concentration of formal water rights. The article discusses recent reforms to the permitting system and argues that they are insufficient to curb over-extraction and address the socio-ecological inequities that have been created.