Report says aquifer that supplies Mexico City will run out of water in 40 years

[Judi Lynn]

MND Staff MND Staff
March 1, 2024



It will cost approximately 97 billion pesos (US $5.7 billion) to avert the crisis, according to a report by UNAM. (Rogelio Morales Ponce/Cuartoscuro)

Experts from Mexico’s UNAM Water Network and other water-security agencies have warned that the aquifer sustaining the Valley of México, the primary water source for over 23.6 million residents in Mexico City and its surrounds, will be depleted within 40 years.

The dire prognosis came with an urgent call for immediate action and a substantial investment of 97 billion pesos (US $5.7 billion) over the next 15 years to avert a water crisis of unprecedented proportions.



The current extraction of water from the aquifer exceeds natural recharge rates by 2.5 times. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)

Presented this week, the report “Water Perspectives in the Valley of Mexico: Guidelines Towards Water Security” underscored the criticality of addressing the impending exhaustion of the Mexico City aquifer, which is part of a system of aquifers.

Its release came on the heels of another recent report, from the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), that said “severe, extreme and exceptional droughts” were affecting more than 1,600 municipalities around the nation.

. . .



More:
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/report-says-aquifer-that-supplies-mexico-city-will-run-out-of-water-in-40-years/

[Think. Again.]

1. Just the beginning.

[jimfields33]

2. They have 40 years to figure out what to do. A lot of time to figure it out.

Desalination is a possibility. Yes expensive but for survival, well worth it.

[Think. Again.]

3. If only this one effect of the mess we're making...

...was all we had to deal with.

Unfortunately we have only just begun to start paying the piper.

[jimfields33]

5. True. But if a location has time to fix something,

they should. Many places don’t have the privilege of time that Mexico City has.

[Think. Again.]

6. Yes, they don't have a choice except to try...

...but the additional problems that will begin to be triggered from this initially recognized problem will have to be dealt with also as the domino effect kicks in.

There are no stand alone systems in our planet's ecology (or even in our human society), everything is interconnected and inter-dependent. A wrench in the works of one part of the machine effects the way the entire machine functions.

[3Hotdogs]

4. I guess it was long about 45 years ago, "Time" ran an article about U.S. aquifers that were stressed.

Industrial agriculture was/is the main source of drainage.