The Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS) opened the fourth edition of the Foro +Agua para BCS on March 24, a two-day water forum in La Paz bringing together 24 institutions and 45 speakers to tackle water scarcity across the state. Governor Víctor Castro Cosío, La Paz Mayor Milena Quiroga Romero, and UABCS Rector Dante Salgado González led the opening ceremony at the university campus on Boulevard Forjadores, the main avenue connecting central La Paz to the southern highway toward Los Cabos.
24 Institutions and 100 Research Posters at UABCS Campus
The forum, which ran March 24 and 25, featured more than 50 conferences and over 100 research posters covering water governance, water reuse, and crisis management. Organizers framed water access as a human right and a development priority, with particular attention to how scarcity affects women and marginalized communities in Baja California Sur.
La Paz and much of BCS depend on underground aquifers that face increasing strain from population growth and drought. CONAGUA (Mexico’s national water commission) has classified several aquifers in the state as overexploited, and the capital city periodically experiences low-pressure days when neighborhoods on higher ground lose service for hours at a time.
Murals in 10 La Paz Schools Tie Climate to Community
Beyond the academic panels, the forum included the creation of murals at 10 La Paz schools. The murals are designed to connect climate action and water conservation to everyday community engagement, bringing the forum’s themes into classrooms across the city.
Governor Castro Cosío and Mayor Quiroga Romero both spoke about the need for coordinated policy between state and municipal governments. Quiroga has previously acknowledged infrastructure gaps in La Paz’s water distribution system, where aging pipes and rapid development in colonias south of the city center create persistent supply challenges.
Proposals emerging from the forum are expected to feed into the State Water Development Plan during the current academic cycle, according to organizers. The event, now in its fourth year, has grown into one of the largest academic gatherings focused on water policy in the Baja California peninsula. The forum’s proceedings were broadcast live from UABCS, as reported by Colectivo Pericú.