2006- Popular Law Drafting and Legislative Activities on the Right to Water

In El Salvador, the right to water and legislative initiatives protecting that right are closely linked to the socio-environmental and political struggle around metallic mining. For instance, in 2006 (the same year that a popular draft law to ban metallic mining was first proposed), a General Water Law was drafted by a group of about 100 social, religious and academic organisations who were part of umbrella platform called Water Forum (The Council of Canadians, 2011). The draft stalled in the Legislative Assembly for approximately 5 years, until 2011 when it was announced that it was expected to be debated by the end of year. The proposed law provided, among other things, “that access to water is a human right, and that all persons without distinction are entitled to have access to it in sufficient quantities” (Ibid). It also proposed the creation of a regulatory body called the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) and “place[d] a two-year limit on permits for industrial and commercial water use, with the possibility of renewal”(Ibid), along with a water use tax.

In April 2012, the Legislative Assembly approved the proposed law, along with a constitutional reform that recognizes the human right to water, as set out in the proposal (The Council of Canadians, 2012). The reform, however, required ratification through a second vote. In October 2014, it was blocked by right-wing members of the Legislative Assembly (The Council of Canadians, 2014).

The issue of legislating the right to water and preventing the privatization of water resources continues to be debated in El Salvador. In April 2018, the Commission on the Environment and Climate Change of the Legislative Assembly reached agreements on 92 articles of the General Water Law. One of main criticisms of grassroots groups and NGOs in relation to legislation discussed in mid-2018 at the Legislative Assembly was that it aimed to facilitate private actors’ involvement in a governing body that would decide on matters related to water administration (La Prensa Gráfica, 2018). In the following three years there were continued discussions and promises by legislators to enact progressive legislation on water (GatoEncerrado, 2021). In June 2021, the Government Nayib Bukele, which had gained control of the legislature earlier that year, presented a draft Water Bill to the legislative assembly. The organizations belonging to the Water Forum were highly critical of the draft bill which they argued normalised water injustice and had been drawn up without an adequate consultation process (El faro, 2018; EFE verde, 2021). In October 2021, legislative commissions continued to consider the proposed bill.

With respect to the mining debate in El Salvador, movements opposing mining operations often frame their position as “pro-water” rather than “anti-mining”, particularly given widespread concern about the contamination risks posed by mining to the country’s scarce water resources (Broad and Cavanagh, 2015). For further information on sustainable water management in El Salvador, please refer to the report referenced below, “Hacia la Gestión Sustentable del Agua en El Salvador”, prepared by the Salvadoran Ecologic Unit et al. (Spanish only).