Key keywords: Maya indigenous land rights, Mexico billion dollar water park, Yucatán Peninsula cenote conservation, irreversible environmental damage, indigenous free prior informed consent, Yucatán groundwater security, Maya cultural heritage protection, Mexican tourism development impact Last week, Mexico’s federal environmental regulatory agency officially approved a 1-billion-USD water park development project that will be built on 300 hectares of ancestral Maya land in the central Yucatán Peninsula, a decision that has sparked widespread outcry from indigenous communities, environmental scientists, and cultural heritage advocates across the globe. The project, led by a private tourism consortium, is marketed as a family-friendly tourist destination that will feature wave pools, water slides, luxury resorts, and a retail complex, with officials claiming it will create 12,000 permanent jobs and draw 2 million additional international visitors to the region annually. However, the approval process has faced intense criticism for violating the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which Mexico ratified in 2007. Leaders of 12 nearby Maya communities confirmed that they received no formal notification of the project until 10 days before the approval was announced, and no public consultation was held to collect their input on land use, cultural protection, or long-term resource access. Environmental experts have warned that the consequences of the project could be irreversible. The Yucatán Peninsula has no above-ground rivers, so 100% of the freshwater supply for the region’s 2.1 million residents comes from an interconnected network of over 6,000 cenotes, or flooded underground limestone caves, that have formed over millions of years. These caves are also home to more than 100 endemic species, including the critically endangered Yucatán blind cave fish and multiple species of cave-dwelling bats found nowhere else on Earth. Construction activities including deforestation, ground excavation, and sewage line installation will almost certainly damage fragile cave structures, release sediment and construction chemicals into the groundwater, and spread contamination across hundreds of kilometers in a matter of months. Unlike surface water pollution, cenote system contamination cannot be remediated effectively, as the porous limestone bedrock has no natural filtration barriers that can trap pollutants. The project site also contains 17 unexcavated Classic Maya archaeological sites, including ceremonial plazas, residential complexes, and sacred altars dating back to 600 CE. Archaeologists note that many of these sites have never been formally studied, and construction will permanently destroy irreplaceable artifacts and historical records of Maya civilization. Local communities have already filed a federal court injunction to halt the project, while international advocacy groups including Greenpeace and Amnesty International have called on the Mexican government to revoke the approval and prioritize indigenous land rights over short-term tourism profits.