The World's Lorne Matalon reports that Mexico City is running out of water. Experts say the only solution is to change the water use habits of the area's 20 million residents.
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MARCO WERMAN: In addition to the bad economy, residents of Mexico City have another big concern. They're running out of water. 20 million people in Mexico's capital and the surrounding area are living with rotating shutdowns of water service. Levels at a main reservoir are falling, and as Lorne Matalon reports, experts say the only solution is to change water use habits in the region.
LORNE MATALON: Before the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, what is now Mexico City was described by one conquistador as the Venice of the New World – a city built on a glistening lake, crisscrossed by canals with cisterns overflowing with crystal clear water. Since then, Mexico City has paved over the lakebed and its rivers as its growth boomed. These days, the sound of water delivery trucks echoes through the streets – a boon for private water companies, but a sign of how fragile the water supply has become. Water service will be cut off for three days a month until the rainy season starts in May. Residents are conserving water, but businesses such as restaurants must buy water in order to stay open. Restaurant manager Javier Ribero says paying for privately delivered water is hurting his bottom line. But he says the silver lining is that faced with inconvenience, Mexicans are now talking about conservation. Ribero says, “We have wasted water. We don't take care of it. We know that, but we don't do anything about it. And now that we lack water,†he says, “I don't think it's the government's fault or anyone's fault. The problem is the demographic explosion of this city. We're in the center of the city, and we had no water for 2 or 3 days, practically not a drop.†Per capita water use in the Mexico City valley is among the world's highest: 300 liters a day. As the population has mushroomed, the region's reservoirs haven't been able to keep pace. An ongoing drought has only exacerbated the stress, and so has climate change.
PEDRO MOCTEZUMA: Our water supply is on the brink of collapse.
MATALON: Pedro Moctezuma directs the Center for Sustainability at the city's Autonomous Metropolitan University. He co-authored a study showing glaciers on two volcanoes in the Mexico Valley – a key component of the region's water supply – have been reduced by between 60 and 80 percent since the mid-1980s due to climate change. He says the glaciers are on track to vanish within a decade.
MOCTEZUMA: Many Mexicans take water as an infinite resource. We have to learn to conserve water, to recycle it, and to minimize water use.
MATALON: The Mexican NGO, The Center for Environmental Law, is working for change as well. Attorney Xavier Esponda Martinez says authorities turn a blind eye to illegal wells dug in areas that were designated as protected in 1954, specifically to protect the water supply.
XAVIER MARTINEZ: That law is ignored as the population expands and new buildings are constructed. We're working at the courts to stop this trend, because otherwise we're simply going to run out of water.
MATALON: There's another environmental issue in play: the steady disappearance of green space. Replacing trees with concrete has made it harder for rainwater to be absorbed into the ground to replenish the area's acquifiers. For The World, I'm Lorne Matalon, in Mexico City.
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