A state legislator in Baja California Sur has introduced a bill to make water conservation a formal part of the public school curriculum. Deputy María Cristina Contreras Rebollo, a member of the ruling MORENA party, filed the proposal with the state’s XVII Legislature on April 24.
The bill would reform BCS’s Education Law to require schools to teach students about responsible water use. Contreras Rebollo said the goal is to build a culture of water conservation starting at the classroom level, where young residents can develop lifelong habits around the resource.
Water Scarcity Makes the Proposal Personal
Baja California Sur is one of the driest states in Mexico. The peninsula depends almost entirely on underground aquifers for its freshwater supply, and several of those aquifers face overextraction. In La Paz, fewer than 25% of residential and commercial buildings have water meters, giving occupants little incentive to conserve, according to the nonprofit Niparajá.
Soil erosion in the Sierra de la Laguna, driven by overgrazing and illegal logging, has reduced the amount of rainwater that filters into groundwater reserves. At the same time, population growth and tourism development in Los Cabos and La Paz continue to strain the supply.
Existing Water Education Efforts in BCS
Some organizations already work on water literacy in BCS schools. The Baja Coastal Institute, based in the East Cape region, developed a project-based water conservation curriculum in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the state’s Public Education Secretariat (SEP). That program trained 35 teachers statewide and engaged students in citizen science projects, including a water inventory in Santiago.
The proposed reform would make such efforts part of the legal framework rather than dependent on nonprofit partnerships. If passed, schools across the state would be required to include water conservation content in their programs.
No Vote Date Set
The XVII Legislature has not announced when the bill will go to committee or reach a floor vote. Contreras Rebollo’s proposal is one of several recent state-level environmental initiatives in BCS. Just last week, the state government opened public consultation on a new biodiversity strategy covering tourism, land use, and natural resources.
The bill was first reported by Noticias La Paz.