In the midst of a severe drought, it’s not uncommon for many of its 22 million residents to open the tap and find… nothing comes out.
“In the past few weeks, we have had water cut-offs,” Alejandra Lopez Rodriguez of The Nature Conservancy told me in a recent interview. “Sometimes there is water in the morning and in the evening. But during the day, the water is shut off, I guess to preserve the water volume and start rationing it.”
For residents, that can mean collecting used shower water in buckets to flush the toilet. Others wait for private trucks to refill centralised water tanks in their apartment building. The least fortunate have no running water at all.
Lopez Rodriguez, The Nature Conservancy’s Mexico water and climate solutions director, points out this isn’t a new problem. Mexico City has faced water shortages before – but this year it’s “critical”.
The Cutzamala System of reservoirs, canals and tunnels supplying about a quarter of the city’s water is rapidly drying. In late May, the system was at a historic low: just 28% of its capacity, according to Mexico’s Water Department, Conagua.
Dry and sinking
The shortage is due to a mix of population growth, leaky infrastructure, heat waves and a prolonged drought. Scientists are studying a direct link to climate change, but the recent trend is clear: Mexico is facing a chronic water shortage. Droughts classified as “extreme” and “exceptional” now affect several states in Mexico.
As well as water from nearby reservoirs, groundwater extraction is also used to keep Mexico City’s taps running. So much water is removed, now and historically, that the city is sinking – in some areas cases up to 20 inches (50cm) per year.
One solution is to build water security through nature. The Mexico City Water Fund, which includes The Nature Conservancy and other development groups, is helping protect the region’s green areas, which are crucial to capture rainfall to replenish groundwater, and also reduce risk of flooding.
“The forests which surround the city are the areas where the water gets recharged to the aquifer. So protecting those forests and protecting that aquifer is extremely important for our water provision and our water security,” says Lopez Rodriguez.
A new chapter
The drought will be one of the first challenges awaiting Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum – the nation’s first female president, who is also a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City.
“There are a lot of expectations,” says Lopez Rodriguez. “She has campaigned on making sure that there will be water for all people, rich and poor, and of all genders. So, we are hoping that she will deliver on that promise.”
Mexico City isn’t the first city to run low on water – and it likely won’t be the last. In 2018, Cape Town survived it’s own severe water crisis. Bogota is currently rationing its water amid a historic drought.
“We need to look at what are our sources of water in nature and protect those sources that we depend on for our life and productive activities,” says Lopez Rodriguez.
Read India Bourke’s story on how Claudia Sheinbaum’s climate science experience could inform her presidency, and Melissa Hogenboom’s feature on Mexico City’s long-term battle with drought.
The less fortunate have to obtain water from community sources and not the tap in the home
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Mexico City, the most populous metropolitan area in North America, is parched. In the midst of a severe drought, it’s not uncommon for many of its 22 million residents to open the tap and find… nothing comes out.
“In the past few weeks, we have had water cut-offs,” Alejandra Lopez Rodriguez of The Nature Conservancy told me in a recent interview. “Sometimes there is water in the morning and in the evening. But during the day, the water is shut off, I guess to preserve the water volume and start rationing it.”
Tags: chronic water shortage, Drought in Mexico, groundwater extraction, The Nature Conservancy