In 2011, Mexico launched an ambitious 2030 Water Agenda to achieve, within the next 20 years, clean water bodies, balanced supply and demand for water, universal coverage and settlements safe from catastrophic floods. This strategic planning exercise shows clear political leadership on behalf of the Mexican government to design a long-term vision for the water sector. On the ground, though, making water reform happen is challenging, especially in Mexico where past experience has shown how difficult it can be to translate policy objectives into action. Although Mexico has a well-developed policy framework for water resource management in place, with a number of policy instruments and institutions, policy implementation is still uneven: 20 years after their creation, river basin councils are not fully operational, the regulatory framework for drinking water and sanitation is scattered across multiple actors and harmful subsidies in other sectors (energy, agriculture) work against water policy objectives. To round out Mexico’s policy framework, it is imperative to take action to increase water productivity and the cost-efficiency of water policies, address multi-level and river basin governance challenges (in particular to bridge inconsistencies between federal and basin priorities), sequence and prioritise reform needs, and support greater policy coherence with agriculture and energy.