Is there a general water law in Guatemala or a national fee for water extraction?

No. Art. 127 of the 1985 Constitution declares that 'all waters are public-domain assets, inalienable and imprescriptible' and orders that 'a specific law shall govern this matter'; that law has never been issued. As a result there is no general water law and no national extraction fee: the legal vacuum is the rule of the game, and the right to drill on one's own land rests on the Civil Code. The only national rule with teeth today is the one on wastewater discharges (Governmental Agreement 236-2006). Bill 6816 (Aug 2026) sets out to fill the vacuum, but has no timetable for a committee opinion.