Mérida has grown faster than its water infrastructure can keep up with, and the city’s top water official is saying so plainly: more service cuts are possible.
Francisco Torres, director of Japay — the Yucatán Water and Sewerage Board — acknowledged this week that the agency can no longer guarantee uninterrupted water service across the city. Speaking at the Centro de Exposiciones y Convenciones Siglo XXI, Torres said Mérida’s breakneck pace of development has outrun the investment in the systems designed to support it.
“The growth of Mérida has overtaken us,” he said. “It has surpassed us in terms of infrastructure advances.”
Torres stopped short of predicting when or where future cuts might happen, but he said residents should not assume they won’t. “It’s a reality. It can happen. We can’t cover the sun with a finger.” He urged meridanos to keep water reserves at home as a precaution.
The remarks came weeks after residents of Ciudad Caucel, a large planned community on Mérida’s western edge, lost water service or experienced sharp drops in pressure. Torres said that disruption — caused by the failure of two pumping relay stations — had been resolved, but he was candid about the underlying problem.
“We are at the limit,” he said of that district. “We can no longer keep growing in that area without finding a solution.”
Part of what’s driving the strain in Ciudad Caucel is a shift no one planned for. Streets laid out for residential use are now lined with car washes, water purification shops, restaurants, and other commercial operations that draw far more water than a neighborhood of homes. Add to that the construction of second stories on houses originally built as single-floor structures, and demand has climbed well beyond what the system was designed to handle.
There’s a broader dynamic at work as well. Gentrification in Mérida’s historic center has pushed residents toward peripheral areas, accelerating demand in zones where infrastructure is already strained. From 2000 to 2020, the city’s population grew from 800,000 to 1.3 million, according to researchers at UNAM, and growth hasn’t slowed. Yucatán’s state congress formally established a Mérida Metropolitan Area in late 2025, encompassing 13 municipalities — a recognition that the city’s expansion has long since spilled beyond its administrative borders.
Japay’s problems aren’t only about new growth. The agency’s director has previously cited pipelines more than 50 years old that fail constantly, noting that the network dates to 1970 and has deteriorated badly given the region’s urban expansion. The agency has also reported handling more than 12,000 repairs in a three-month period — leaks, broken pipes, and related failures — and faces a receivables problem, with somewhere between 23% and 25% of accounts in arrears.
Torres said Japay is working with the CFE, Mexico’s federal electricity commission, and Conagua, the national water authority, to shore up the system. The agency relies on the CFE for the power needed to run its pumping operations and currently has around 38 backup generators — not enough to cover a major citywide emergency, he said.
A fix won’t come quickly. Torres acknowledged that the years of inadequate investment have created a hole that will take significant money and time to fill. “It’s not about having a magic wand and reversing what for many years was not invested in seriously and responsibly in hydraulic infrastructure in Mérida,” he said. His focus right now is on preparing the city for the approaching dry season, when water demand peaks and the system faces its biggest annual stress.
For the moment, Ciudad Caucel residents have service. Whether it stays that way depends on what happens next.
Fast Facts: Mérida’s Water System
- Japay (Junta de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Yucatán) is the state agency responsible for drinking water and sewage in Yucatán
- The agency operates four water treatment plants: in the Cuxtal reserve, Umán, Kanasín, and Hunucmá
- Japay depends on the CFE to power its pumping operations and has approximately 38 backup generators
- An estimated 23%–25% of Japay’s accounts are in arrears, limiting funds available for infrastructure repairs
- Ciudad Caucel, on Mérida’s western edge, is one of the fastest-growing districts and among the most stressed by current water capacity
- Japay has advised residents to store water at home as a precaution against future service interruptions
- Mérida’s metropolitan area now formally spans 13 municipalities, reflecting years of rapid urban growth
- For more on Mexico’s broader water challenges, see Smart Water Magazine
Sources: La Jornada Maya (Astrid Sánchez, March 26, 2026); Yucatán al Amano (January 14, 2025); Smart Water Magazine; World Population Review / UNAM via The Yucatan Times; Yucatán Magazine