The municipal water authority in Mulegé is giving residential customers a reason to pay their bills on time this summer. OOMSAPAS Mulegé (the Municipal Agency for Potable Water, Sewage, and Sanitation) launched a “Pay and Win” campaign that enters every domestic account holder who pays their July bill into a raffle for a mini-split air conditioning unit.
The rules are straightforward. Any residential customer who settles their July water bill in cash at the OOMSAPAS offices between July 1 and July 31 receives one raffle ticket. The drawing will take place on July 31 and will be livestreamed on the agency’s official Facebook page.
Summer Heat Drives Payment Push
The campaign comes at a critical time for the small desert community on the Sea of Cortez. Summer is peak water consumption season in Mulegé, where temperatures regularly exceed 40°C (104°F) from June through September. Higher demand means higher pumping costs for the utility, and bill delinquency typically rises during these months as well.
Mulegé Mayor Edith Aguilar Villavicencio framed the raffle as more than a giveaway. She warned that unpaid bills directly threaten the utility’s ability to maintain continuous water service to the community. For a municipality that already relies on private water truck deliveries to supplement service in some areas, keeping the public system funded is a pressing concern.
Debt Recovery Program Also Planned
OOMSAPAS Director General Yolanda Álvarez said the raffle is only one piece of a broader revenue strategy. A separate program targeting customers with outstanding balances is also in development. Details of that debt-recovery initiative have not yet been released, but Álvarez indicated it would roll out during the summer months.
The twin efforts point to the financial strain that many small municipal water agencies across Baja California Sur face. OOMSAPAS systems in smaller towns often operate with thin margins, and a spike in unpaid accounts during peak season can cascade into service interruptions and deferred maintenance.
Customers in the Mulegé area who want to participate should visit the OOMSAPAS offices in person with a cash payment before July 31. The agency has not announced whether digital or bank transfer payments will qualify.
The story was first reported by BCS Noticias.