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In the environmental recovery projects regarding urban rivers, the importance of management models that were used in the past has been minimized with regard to the knowledge of the institutional arrangements that affected the current configuration of the territory. This article uses documentary sources from the 'Historical Archive of Water' to reconstruct the two most important management models that the Magdalena River was subjected to prior to 1974, when it was used as a source of drinking water for the south west of Mexico City. The first model corresponds to the distribution of water that was carried out in the 17th and 18th Centuries, in accordance with the laws prevailing in the area; while the second refers to the functioning of the Water Board promoted by the Mexican State in the first governments emanating from the Mexican Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]