Mexico City’s Looming Water Crisis

13 min read        

So, let me cut to the chase here: Mexico City, one of the world’s largest cities, is running out of water. The city's dams and canals may soon fail with a growing population, crumbing infrastructure, and climate change. The urgent challenges and potential solutions for one of the world's largest cities, are mounting, and a luxury of time to solve this problem, is not an option. 

Welcome to That's Life, I Swear. This podcast is about life's happenings in this world that conjure up such words as intriguing, frightening, life-changing, inspiring, and more. I'm Rick Barron your host. 

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A convergence of climate change, uncontrolled urban expansion, and inadequate infrastructure has pushed Mexico City to the precipice of a profound water crisis. This description pretty much sizes up why Mexico City is in the predicament it’s in today.

The underground aquifers are rapidly depleting. One crucial reservoir has fallen so low that it’s no longer utilized for water supply. The previous year was the hottest and driest Mexico has experienced in at least seven decades. One of Mexico City’s main water systems is facing a potential "Day Zero" this summer when levels drop to such an extent that it too will cease to provide water.

Day Zero

So, what is Day Zero? 

Day Zero represents a dire circumstance where a city faces the daunting challenge of not providing water to its residents. This grim milestone signifies when taps run dry, and authorities are forced to implement strict water rationing measures in a desperate attempt to maintain basic sanitation and hygiene requirements. Almost sounds like a sci-fi movie, but it’s not.

Do not be lulled into complacency - this nightmare scenario is no longer the deranged fantasy of doomsayers but an inescapable happening hastened by our disregard for the environment. The looming threat of Day Zero is not confined to a specific region but instead reflects a global pattern of increasing strain on water resources, exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. 

Villa Victoria Dam. Courtesy of: CNN

Over the past two decades, the world has witnessed a staggering 134% rise in flood events and a 29% increase in drought occurrences. Notably, the consequences of these water-related stresses and disasters disproportionately affect the most vulnerable segments of society, including women, youth, older adults, and individuals with disabilities.

Addressing this unfolding crisis requires a multifaceted response. An integrated approach to water resource management, coupled with technical and institutional strategies, is critical in mitigating scarcity and averting the grim reality of Day Zero.

Mexico City is suffering because the city is growing immeasurably, and as a result, its resources are insufficient, and cannot keep up, try as they do. 

Once a water-rich valley was drained to make way for a vast metropolis today known as Mexico City. The city has a population of 23 million, among the top ten largest cities in the world, an increase from 15 million in 1990. It is one of several major cities confronting severe water shortages, including Cape Town and São Paulo in Brazil. For many, the crisis results from years of poor water management exacerbated by scarce rainfall.

Historical data

Mexico City, a densely populated metropolis, sprawls across a high-altitude lake bed at an impressive 7,300 feet above sea level. Built upon clay-rich soil, the city now finds itself slowly sinking, being prone to earthquakes and highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Perhaps it is one of the least ideal locations to establish a megacity today.

However, the Aztecs saw potential in this spot when they founded their city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, when the area was a series of lakes. They deliberated on building their city on an island, expanding it outwards, and constructing intricate networks of canals and bridges to coexist with the surrounding water.

The arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century marked a significant shift in the city's landscape. The conquistadors tore down much of the existing city, drained the lakebed, filled in canals, and cleared away forests. According to Jose Alfredo Ramirez, an architect and co-director of Groundlab, a design and policy research organization, the Spanish viewed "water as an enemy to overcome for the city to thrive."

Although Mexico City's water problems are intensifying, they are not a recent phenomenon. Certain neighborhoods have grappled with inadequate piped water supply for years, but communities that have never experienced shortages are suddenly confronting them.

Nearly two decades ago, experts had issued warnings about dwindling water resources, but to little avail. If the capital's water network had already been hanging by a thread back then, now "some parts of the system are crumbling," as stated Manuel Perló Cohen, an urban planning researcher who studies Mexico City's water system.

"Mexico is the world's largest market for bottled water," stated Roberto Constantino Toto, who heads the water research office at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. This, he added, is a reflection "of the failure of our water policy."

The exceptionally arid conditions are the immediate source of the city's water predicament. Mexico has long been subject to droughts, but according to the National Water Commission, nearly 68 percent of the country is experiencing moderate or extreme drought conditions.

Official data reveals that the Cutzamala water system – one of the world's largest networks of dams, canals, and pipes, supplying 27 percent of the capital's water, is at a historically low 30 percent of its normal capacity. At the same time last year, it stood at 38 percent, while in 2022, it was at 45 percent.

Authorities have projected June 26, 2024 as an estimated Day Zero, when the Cutzamala system could plummet to the 20 percent baseline. At that point, it would no longer be tapped to supply water to Mexico City.

The water level at one reservoir fell so low that officials stopped its utilization in April of 2024.

Experts stated that groundwater, which supplies most of the city's water, is being pumped out at twice the rate it is being replenished.

The city's water supply, some of which is brought in from distant locations, flows through an 8,000-mile-long grid of old pipes vulnerable to earthquakes, sinking ground, and leaks that have caused an estimated 35 percent water loss — more than what the Cutzamala system provides.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose aides have asserted that Day Zero will not occur, has insisted that his government is already addressing Mexico City's water problems. He stated that new wells were being dug, and officials are working to end corruption involving water consumed by major industries. He has also proposed bringing more water in from outside the city.

Certain areas of Mexico City have long endured insufficient tap water supply, including Iztapalapa, a working-class community and the capital's most populous borough with 1.8 million residents. The locals rely on municipal water trucks to fill cisterns or water tanks in their homes or buildings. If that proves inadequate, people pay for private trucks or, in extreme cases, illegally tap into water lines.

However, as water has become scarcer, other parts of the city face increased rationing, including reduced flow and receiving water only during certain times of the day or on specific days of the week. Water has been rationed to 284 neighborhoods this year, even affluent ones, compared to 147 in 2007.

Towns that have never suffered from water problems must truly learn how to conserve it. Currently, the residents of Iztapalapa rely on water trucks for their water. The residents treat every drop as precious, using water from showers to clean their homes.

Lines for water. Courtesy of: The Weather Channel

For two decades, residents have never encountered an issue with running water in Mexico City. Starting in November of 2023, people started experiencing that when turning on their faucets, they witnessed no water flow. Due to the extreme lack of water conditions today, when water does run under the rationing plan, for those lucky enough, people fill a 1,100-liter tank and hope it lasts until the next scheduled day for water supply, if they’re lucky.

In other towns around Mexico City, the water supply like in Tlalpan is even more erratic. Municipal water trucks used to arrive every four days or so, but now they take longer, sometimes up to a month. Rather than using water at home, many families’ wash their clothes at a local laundromat.

The dwindling resources are frightening and getting very scary for many people.

While no evidence links Mexico's drought to climate change, the rising temperatures have exacerbated its effects.

Over the past century, Mexico City's average temperature has risen by around 3 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit), more than double the global average. According to a 2020 study, exceptionally hot days (above 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 degrees Fahrenheit) have doubled in some parts of the city. This could be partially attributed to climate change and the city's exponential growth, with concrete and asphalt replacing trees and wetlands.

Heat exacerbates a water crisis: Increased water demand and higher evaporation rates.

The latest Water Risk Atlas, published by the World Resources Institute, describes Mexico City as facing "extremely high" water stress, its highest category rating.

Some progress has been made in dealing with the water crisis. An enormous $2 billion tunnel opened in 2019 to transport wastewater from Mexico City to a distant water treatment plant. A program to harvest unutilized rainwater was launched in some poorer neighborhoods. A small section of Lake Texcoco, largely drained to build the city, was restored. More wells and aquifers are being explored.

However, several experts stated that the steps taken so far were not aggressive enough, and others were misdirected.

Faucets running low in Mexico City. Courtesy of: PHYS ORG

The primary focus of city and national governments has been on seeking far-flung watersheds that supply other Mexican states to quench Mexico City's thirst. However, most of the city's treatment plants do not operate at full capacity. Many allow wastewater to go untreated, which is then discharged into rivers or lakes, polluting potential alternative water sources.

According to the city's water agency, the estimated cost of addressing the water crisis reaches as high as $13.5 billion.

The rainy season, which typically spans from roughly June to November, would usually aid in replenishing Mexico City's water systems. Nevertheless, the capital experienced historically low rainfall during last year's rainy season.

The Day Zero warning issued by some experts has become contentious in Mexico City, used to criticize the government. However, it has also helped draw public attention to the deepening problem.

The water crisis warnings create fear, anxiety, and worry for the people of Mexico and Mexico City.

What can we learn from this story? What's the takeaway?

While Mexico City is struggling to avoid Day Zero, these eleven cities around the world are most likely the next to experience a Day Zero crisis: Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, Istanbul, Jakarta, London, Miami, Moscow, São Paulo, and Tokyo.

We cannot escape Day Zero through meager conservation efforts - only a multifaceted offensive of desperate measures and aggressive resource management can hope to block off this looming disaster. But is it already too late? The hourglass is draining before our very eyes.

Well, there you go, my friends; that's life, I swear

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website, which you can find on Apple Podcasts, for show notes calling out key pieces of content mentioned and the episode transcript.

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