Mexico City Water Shortage

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Caused by climate change and urbanization, water shortages are a major concern of the Mexican government at both the local and federal level. Mexico City, the third largest city in the world with more than twenty million inhabitants, struggles with water scarcity because of the potential risk it poses to the wellbeing of its citizens. Similar to the situation in other megacities, such as Jakarta and Bangkok, Mexico City’s water supplies are being depleted because of a growing urban population. (CBC News , 2009 ) Unable to sufficiently supply the increasing population size of the city, the water in the Mexico Valley aquifer is being drawn out faster than the aquifer’s recharge rate. Exacerbated by the fragmented nature of Mexico’s political culture, the exploitation of Mexico City’s water resources due to a growing urban population is detrimentally degrading the environment and creating a self-perpetuating problem that places the city and its inhabitants at risk.
The Mexican government has been ineffective in addressing the ecological issues associated with the water shortages in Mexico City because of its institutional fragmentation. Currently, forty-five percent of the water used in the greater Mexico City is supplied by over-exploiting the aquifer because the current water extraction rate from the aquifer is one hundred and eighty-four percent greater than the sustainable level. (Pina, 2011 ) Since Mexico City receives seventy percent of its water from the aquifer, its depletion poses a significant problem to the government of Mexico and its people. (Pina, 2011 ) In Mexico City, the federal, regional and local government levels all play a part in determining water management policies. While the local government of Mexico City sh...

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...//www.conagua.gob.mx/english07/publications/Conagua%20in%20action%20carta%20cor.pdf

Grillo, I. (2009, April 11). Dry Taps in Mexico City: A Water Crisis Gets Worse. Retrieved January 2014, from Time: http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1890623,00.html

Pina, P. (2011 , March ). Addressing water Crisis in Mexico City. Retrieved 2014, from SYPA: http://watersecurityinitiative.seas.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Patricia%20PINA%20SYPA%20on%20Mexico%20City%20Water_0.pdf

Reig, P. (2012, December 12). Entrepreneurs in Mexico City Turn Water Risk into Opportunity. Retrieved January 2014 , from World Resources Institute : http://www.wri.org/blog/entrepreneurs-mexico-city-turn-water-risk-opportunity

Shapiro, A. D. (2013 , February 7 ). Collecting Rain in Mexico City. Retrieved January 2014 , from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/rain-mexico-city.html

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