Mexico City
CNN
—
Alejandro Gomez has been without proper running water for more than three months. Sometimes he lasts an hour or two, but with only a small drip, it barely fills two or three buckets. Nothing happened for days after that.
Gómez, who lives in Mexico City's Tlalpan neighborhood, cannot receive water tanker deliveries because he does not have a large storage tank. There is simply no place to store water. Instead, he and his family are hoarding what they can buy and keep.
When they wash, they catch the runoff and flush the toilet. That's difficult, he told CNN. “We need water. It's essential for everything.”
Gomez said water shortages are not uncommon in the region, but this time is different. “We're having very hot days right now. To make matters worse, things are getting more complicated.”
Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis with a population of nearly 22 million people and one of the largest cities in the world, faces complex challenges such as geography, uncontrolled urban development, and leaky infrastructure that are exacerbated by the effects of climate change. , facing a serious water crisis.
Years of unusually low rainfall, prolonged dry seasons, and high temperatures are putting further stress on water systems already strained to keep up with increased demand. Authorities have been forced to introduce significant restrictions on water pumped from reservoirs.
Cristian Dominguez Sarmiento, an atmospheric scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said: “Some regions have been suffering from water shortages for weeks, and there are still four months left before the rains start.” .
Politicians downplay the sense of crisis, but Some experts believe that the situation has now reached such a critical level that Mexico City could be hurtling toward “day zero” within months, meaning that large areas of the city will be flooded with water. states that there is a possibility of depletion.
Densely populated Mexico City is located on a high lake bed approximately 7,300 feet above sea level. The bridge is built on clay-rich soil that is currently sinking into it, making it earthquake-prone and highly vulnerable to climate change. Perhaps this is one of the places where people today would least choose to build a megacity.
The Aztecs chose this site to build the city of Tenochtitlan in 1325. At that time, it was a series of lakes. They built on islands, expanded their cities outward, and built networks of canals and bridges to handle water.
But when the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century, they demolished much of the city, drained the lake bed, filled in the canals, and tore up the forest. They believed that “water is an enemy that cities must overcome in order to thrive,” said Jose Alfredo Ramírez, an architect and co-director of GroundLab, a design and policy research organization. .
Cesar Rodriguez/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Aerial view of Mexico City, one of the world's largest megacities.
Their decisions paved the way for many modern cities in Mexico City. problem. Wetlands and rivers have been replaced with concrete and asphalt. Floods occur during the rainy season. It becomes dry during the dry season.
Approximately 60% of Mexico City's water comes from underground aquifers, which are so over-extracted that recent studies suggest the city is sinking at an alarming rate, sinking about 20 inches a year. I'm here. And aquifers aren't replenishing fast enough. Rather than sinking into the ground, rainwater rolls off the hard, impermeable surfaces of cities.
The rest of the city's water is pumped far uphill from sources outside the city, an incredibly inefficient process during which approximately 40% of the water is lost. It will leak.
The Cuzamara water system, a network of reservoirs, pumping stations, canals, and tunnels, supplies about 25% of the water used in the Valley of Mexico, including Mexico City. But a severe drought took its toll. Currently, production is at around 39% of capacity, languishing at historic lows.
“That's almost half the amount of water we should have,” said Fabiola Sosa Rodríguez, head of economic growth and environment at Mexico City's Metropolitan Autonomous University.
In October, the country's national water commission, Conagua, announced an 8% restriction on water from Cuzamara “to ensure the supply of drinking water to the population in view of the severe drought.”
Just a few weeks later, authorities drastically tightened regulations, blaming extreme weather conditions on the system, which reduced water delivered by the system by nearly 25%.
“We need to take steps to ensure that the water in Cutsamara does not run dry and can be distributed over time,” Conagua's executive director Germán Arturo Martínez Santoyo said in a statement at the time. .
Raquel Cunha/Reuters
Exposed embankment of the Vila Victoria dam, part of the Kutsamara water system, in Vila Victoria, Mexico, January 26, 2024.
About 60% of Mexico is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought, according to a February report. Nearly 90% of Mexico City is in severe drought, and with the start of the rainy season still months away, the situation is likely to worsen.
“We're in the middle of the dry season, and we expect temperatures to continue to rise into April or May,” said June Garcia Becerra, assistant professor of engineering at the University of Northern British Columbia.
Natural climate variations have a major impact on this region of Mexico. Three years of La Niña brought drought to the region, and last year's arrival of El Niño ushered in a painfully short rainy season. The reservoir could not be refilled.
But the long-term trend of human-induced global warming looms in the background, prolonging droughts and intensifying heatwaves, as well as heavy rains when they occur.
“Climate change is making droughts more severe due to water scarcity,” UNAM's Sarmiento said. In addition to this, the high temperatures “evaporated the water available in the Kuzamara water system,” she said.
Last summer, an intense heatwave hit large parts of the country, killing at least 200 people. Scientists' analysis shows that without climate change, these heatwaves would be “virtually impossible.”
of Climate impacts collided with the growing pains of rapidly expanding cities. As the population rapidly increases, Expert To tell Centralized water supply systems have not kept up.
The crisis has sparked intense debate over whether the city will reach “Day Zero.” In this situation, the Kutuzamala system would drop to such a low level that it would no longer be able to provide water to the city's residents.
Local media widely reported in early February that an official at the Conagua office said that “day zero” could arrive as early as June 26, barring heavy rain.
But authorities have since sought to assure residents that zero-days do not exist.in Press conference February 14th, President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador said efforts are underway to address water issues.Mexico City Mayor Marti Batres Guadarrama recently said: Press conference The report on Day 0 was said to be “fake news” spread by political opponents.
Conagua declined CNN's request for an interview and did not answer specific questions about Day Zero's prospects.
But many experts warn that the crisis will spiral. If Mexico City continues to use water in the same way, it could run out before the rainy season arrives, Soza-Rodriguez said. “We're probably going to have day zero,” she added.
Henry Romero/Reuters
A woman washes dishes at home after receiving a free water distribution in the Ixtapalapa neighborhood on January 31, 2024.
She said this does not mean a complete collapse of the water system, as the city does not rely on just one water source.It won't be the same as it was back then Cape Town, South Africa, was at risk of complete drought in 2018 after several years of severe drought. “Some groups will still have water, but most people will not have water,” she said.
Raul Rodríguez Marquez, president of the nonprofit Water Advisory Board, said he doesn't believe the city will see day zero this year, but warned that it will happen if no changes are made.
“We are in a critical situation and could reach extreme conditions in the coming months,” he told CNN.
Soza-Rodriguez said he has been warning officials about the dangers of day zero for Mexico City for nearly a decade.
He said the solution was clear. Improved wastewater treatment will increase water availability and reduce pollution, while rainwater collection systems can capture and treat rain, allowing residents to reduce their dependence on water networks and water trucks by 30%. .
Saving water helps combat the climate crisis.Here's how to reduce usage
Fixing the leak will greatly increase the efficiency of the system and reduce the amount of water that needs to be extracted from the aquifer. And nature-based solutions such as restoring rivers and wetlands can help supply and purify water, with the added benefit of greening and cooling cities, she said.
In a statement posted on its website, the city of Conagua said it is undertaking a three-year project to install, develop and improve its water infrastructure, including adding new wells and operating a water treatment plant, to help the city address the decline in the Cutzamara water system. He said he was.
But on the other hand, tensions are rising as some residents have had to cope with shortages while others, many of whom live in wealthy enclaves, have been largely unaffected.
“There is clearly inequality in access to water in the city, and this is related to people's incomes,” Sosa-Rodriguez said. She added that while Mexico City as a whole may not yet have zero-day, some areas have been struggling with it for years.
Amanda Martinez, another resident of the city's Tlalpan district, said water scarcity is nothing new for people here. She and her family often have to pay more than $100 for water tanks from city water trucks. But the situation is getting worse. She told CNN that she sometimes goes without water for more than two weeks and is worried about what will happen next.
“I don't think anyone is ready.”
CNN's Laura Paddison and Jack Guy reported from London and Fidel Gutierrez from Mexico City.
