ARTICLE 223:

For the use or exploitation of national waters referred to in this Chapter, the water right shall be paid, in accordance with the zone of availability of water and the basin or aquifer in which it is extracted and in accordance with the following fees:

A. For the waters coming from surface sources or extracted from the subsoil, for each cubic meter:

Public and private companies that have an assignment or concession to exploit, use or take advantage of national waters, that have the permission from the municipalities or operating agencies for the provision of drinking water services, comply with the water quality conditions for human consumption established in the official Mexican norms and supplying volumes of water for domestic consumption to centers or towns, they will cover the right regarding the volumes of water supplied, with the fees established in Section B, section I, of this article; for such purposes, they must have a meter that exclusively records the volume of water they provide for said use. Taxpayers may apply the preferential fees established in Section B, section I of this article, as long as they comply with all the requirements set forth in this paragraph.

Of the income obtained from the collection of rights for the use or exploitation of national waters by users other than the municipal and operating agencies thereof, 300 million pesos will have a specific destination for the Mexican Forest Fund for development and operation of Payment Programs for Environmental Services. These resources will expand the budget assigned to the National Forestry Commission.

B. For the water coming from surface sources or extracted from the subsoil, the water right will be paid for every thousand cubic meters, destined to:

For the purposes of drinking water use, it will be considered:

The income obtained from the collection of the rights for the exploitation, use or utilization of national waters referred to in this section, paid by the municipalities, will be destined to the National Water Commission (Comisión Nacional del Agua) for hydraulic infrastructure works.

The rates referred to in this section, will be applicable to the subjects that are indicated when the water consumption in the period is less than or equal to a volume equivalent to 300 liters per inhabitant per day, according to the population indicated in the final results of the immediately preceding exercise, exclusively referring to population, from the last Census of Population and Housing (Censo General de Población y Vivienda) published by the National Institute of Statistic and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía).

In those cases, in which the consumption is higher than the volumes mentioned in the previous paragraph, the following rates will be applied to the volume of excess consumption:

II. Hydroelectric generation and geothermal generation................................$5.0019

III. Aquaculture:

IV. Spas and recreational centers:

The provisions of this section do not apply to hotels, recreational centers with exclusive or private access and golf courses.

C. For the water coming from surface sources or extracted from the subsoil, destined for agricultural use, the water right shall be paid for each cubic meter that exceeds the volume granted to each irrigation district or for each cubic meter that exceeds the volume granted to the remaining agricultural users, according to the following fees:

Availability zone 1 to 4 ......................................... $ 0.1981

The income obtained from the collection of the right referred to in this Section, will go to the National Water Commission (Comisión Nacional del Agua) for the installation of measurement and technical devices for the agricultural sector itself.