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One summer night in southern Mexico, a rhythm group employing plastic containers as musical tools directs a procession through the city of Mérida, capital of Yucatán state. Youngsters marching alongside elderly people are guided by representatives of a Maya land rights organization. The placards they display declare: “Water should not be commercialized.” A heavy call follows the procession: “The problem isn't lack of rain – it's exploitation!”

Increasing Concerns Over Large-Scale Developments

During a gathering spot in the urban center, protesters read from a declaration and criticize the administration of favoring economic gain over water access, health and land. They criticize a series of mega-projects introduced without their consent, from massive swine operations to the contentious rail project infrastructure project. But they save their greatest outrage for the Heineken brewery in Kanasín, near Mérida, which was announced in the summer.

Beer is primarily water. They are still taking a lot out to make the product … millions of litres a day

Among various of local residents, the intentions for the industrial facility are seen not as a beneficial project, but as a continuation of a underlying problem: of officially approved commercial projects that endanger water resources and indigenous rights, leaving local communities caught in an unfair struggle to defend their traditional and natural way of life.

Water Consumption and Ecological Impact

As part of a multi-billion dollar economic strategy, the brewing plant is expected to generate thousands of employment opportunities, in various roles, including 300 stable roles. Local groups have questioned a lack of resident agreement – contesting the brewery's statement that discussions took place last December – and raising apprehensions about its natural consequences, particularly the implications of its resource extraction on indigenous populations.

“It risks our water supply through toxins, but could pose challenges for low-income residents to use it,” says a community representative, an advocate with Múuch’ Xíinbal.

Kanasín lies within the region's underground aquifer network, a system of subterranean water sources of spiritual and practical value to the Maya and an crucial source of drinking water. Several investigations have documented contamination from development projects within the aquifer system.

Corporation Statements and Resident Skepticism

Heineken states it will brew 400m litres of brew a year, and plans to control water consumption to two litres for every unit of beer. But one estimate estimates this could mean depleting huge quantities of resources at the existing standard of 2.6 litres for every litre of brew.

Advocates say this is enough resources to provide for 28,000 homes in a area where about many people did not have access to clean water in recent years, and water availability has declined by more than 50% since the early 2000s. Multiple studies have also observed that in some countryside regions of the country, alcoholic beverages is more easily accessible than potable water.

These companies have a record of promising they will process the wastewater using the modern methods to stop contamination, but then they fail to

The company also states its planned plant will lower its water usage with “sustainable methods that promise water re-use through modern filtration methods” and aims to reduce waste and run using sustainable power.

Expert Views and Past Precedents

However an industry expert, owner of a small-scale producer, says this is not enough. Most of the resources used to sterilize industrial machinery can be recycled, he says, but the enormous volume of the brewery's output inevitably makes it water-intensive.

“The main component of beer is water; they continue extracting a lot out to make the product. This amounts to huge volumes a day,” he says. The demand on water supply, Forrester says, is “less about the water recycling, and more about the raw extraction of groundwater to brew at that size.”

Residents are also worried about contamination. Industrial production facilities are required by law to process used water produced during production, as it holds high levels of substances and natural materials that can affect earth and pollute groundwater.

The activist worries about following regulations. “Sadly, industrial operations have a past of promising they will treat the wastewater using the latest technology to prevent contamination, but then they fail to.”

Legal Cases and Indigenous Opposition

With restricted official participation, some indigenous communities have approached the judicial authorities for support. In recent months, 21 populations called for a halt on new massive pork production facilities; although the appeal failed, similar court cases resulted in the closure of a facility and sanctions for 26 others.

In the past, in a lawsuit that is still pending, a conservation group filed a case against the authorities to achieve protection for the cenote network.

However legal action is pricey and can take a long time to conclude. By the time judges approved Indigenous requests to stop work on segments of the Maya Train in the new year, the rail lines had already been constructed.

The representative says he does not know what the organization will do next. “There is no a way to halt the project right now. It's an enormous difficulty,” he says.

Traditional {Survival|Pres