Sheinbaum Cancels La Parota and Allocates 8,000M MXN to Acapulco Water Plan
President Sheinbaum formally and definitively canceled the La Parota dam after 23 years of community conflict. An 8,000 million peso investment will fund radial wells, elevated tanks, and five treatment plants in Acapulco.
President Claudia Sheinbaum formally canceled the La Parota hydroelectric project in Guerrero on July 26, 2026, and announced an investment of 8,000 million pesos to replace it with water infrastructure in Acapulco. The decision closes more than two decades of conflict between the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) and the riverside communities of the Papagayo River.
La Parota was conceived in 2003 as a large-scale CFE hydroelectric plant on the Papagayo River, but never reached the construction phase. From the outset it faced sustained opposition from the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to La Parota Dam (CECOP), which denounced the flooding of more than 17,000 hectares and the displacement of thousands of residents across the municipalities of Acapulco, San Marcos, and Chilpancingo, as reported by Infobae. The project remained formally listed in the National Electric System (SEN) expansion plans despite having been on hold for more than 20 years.
The new water plan, announced during a Pensión Mujeres Bienestar event in Acapulco, includes radial wells on the Papagayo River with elevated towers to protect pumps from flooding; elevated tanks to distribute water by gravity to uphill neighborhoods; five new wastewater treatment plants plus the modernization of nine existing ones, with a combined capacity of 2,400 liters per second; 30 kilometers of marginal collectors; and dredging of 13 kilometers of the La Sabana River. Rehabilitation of potable water networks begins in Ciudad Renacimiento, one of the areas hardest hit by hurricanes Otis and John. According to El Financiero, Sheinbaum noted that the dam "greatly affected the communities."
The cancellation removes an emblematic hydroelectric project from CFE's plans and redirects federal spending toward Acapulco's acute water crisis. Progress on tenders for the radial wells and treatment plants in the coming months will serve as the concrete signal that the new scheme is moving from announcement to execution.
This article was drafted with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.
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This article was drafted with AI assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.