Mexico Launches MX$20 Billion River Restoration Drive to Revive Polluted Waterways

Mexico has announced a landmark MX$20 billion (US$1.15 billion) investment to restore three of the country's most polluted river systems-the Atoyac, Tula, and Lerma-Santiago rivers-marking one of the nation's largest environmental and water infrastructure initiatives.

Unveiled by President Claudia Sheinbaum alongside the Ministry of Environment (SEMARNAT) and the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), the six-year program aims to improve water quality, strengthen ecosystem health, and enhance water security for millions of residents.

Unlike traditional river-cleaning efforts, the initiative adopts a watershed-wide approach that combines wastewater treatment infrastructure, stricter industrial discharge controls, sewer network expansion, riverbank restoration, reforestation, and continuous environmental monitoring. Nature-based solutions, including wetland restoration and ecosystem recovery, will complement conventional engineering projects to address pollution at its source.

Government assessments have already surveyed more than 340km of river corridors, inspected 3,202 industrial discharge points, and identified 479 illegal dumping sites and 460 potentially polluting industrial facilities. Authorities say the findings highlight the combined impacts of untreated sewage, industrial pollution, agricultural runoff, and ecosystem degradation on Mexico's freshwater resources.

Progress is already underway across all three river basins. Restoration works on the Atoyac River have reached 85% completion, while the first phase of the Lerma-Santiago program is 90% complete, including wastewater treatment upgrades, solar-powered facilities, extensive reforestation, and new wastewater collectors. Meanwhile, projects on the Tula River focus on wastewater treatment, flood mitigation, dredging, illegal waste removal, and public health measures, including mosquito control.

By integrating infrastructure investment with stronger environmental enforcement and cross-government coordination, Mexico aims to build long-term water resilience, reduce pollution, restore ecosystems, and create a more sustainable foundation for urban, industrial, and agricultural water management.

MX$20 billion for river restoration is real infrastructure delivery scale, and it opens investment opportunities across water-technology, remediation and biodiversity-restoration sectors. Our climate-action and nature-based-solutions teams help clients evaluate what water-restoration initiatives mean for capex, disclosure and community-partnership positioning.