Mexico is currently facing severe problems with water availability, wastage and contamination. The most contaminated and over-exploited water resources are concentrated in the most populated areas of the country, where water is scarcer and its quality makes it unsuitable for a variety of uses, including human consumption. At the same time it is indisputable that water quality is a determining factor in public health and ecosystems. The significant growth in population and industry results in a high demand for water, along with contaminating discharges, few of which are treated – and the impact upon the ecosystems is evident. This book addresses all these topics in a single volume, taking into account the challenges presented by the economic, institutional and environmental considerations in Mexico’s water policy framework.
This book presents several complex case studies related to water management and planning in the context of pollution, growing demands, and global climate change in Mexico, but which are also relevant for other countries in Latin America. These concerns are of critical importance for policymakers who are coping with multiple conflicting interests. Water availability in Mexico is polarized, with abundant rainfall and large rivers in the south, and desert-like conditions in the north. The central region, which is the most industrialized, is overpopulated. Mexico City pours millions of cubic meters of “blackwater” into the northern valley daily and receives its clean water from the south. To address these unsustainable conditions, the world's 4th biggest water treatment plant went into operation in 2018. The water infrastructure and governance must satisfy the demands of all sectors, including agricultural, urban, and economic activities. At the same time, water resources are affected by drought, and climate change puts constraints on the supply. As such, regulation and monitoring are important when it comes to adherence to agreed plans and priorities. The book is divided into four sections. 1: Water Availability discusses quantitative aspects, such as supply, methods of calculation, and fracking. 2: Water Quality highlights pollution risks and diagnosis of water resources. 3: Water Allocation examines the sectoral demands and vulnerability due to unsustainable irrigation. 4: Water Governance and Management focuses on laws, urban rules, national parks, planning, and integrated water resources management, among other topics. The chapters include illustrative case studies in Mexico, such as basins, cities, reservoirs, and aquifers, water supply demand assessment, planning, and management.
The book compiles 19 authors who approach the 15 Global Challenges identified by the Millennium Project as the main threats and opportunities for the present Millennium as a methodological conceptual framework for Mexico's futures. The first part launches diagnoses that are formulated on each Challenge and visions and reflections are proposed. The second part presents three possible scenarios for Mexico by 2050 and, finally, it concludes with a proposal for guiding projects by 2050.
Water resources in Mexico are threatened by scarcity, pollution and climate change. In two decades water consumption doubled, producing water stress in dry seasons and semi-arid and arid regions. Water stress rises due to physical and economic stress. In seven parts a multidisciplinary team analyzes hydrological processes in basins and their interaction with climate, soil and biota. Competing water use in agriculture, industry and domestic needs require savings, decontamination processes and desalination to satisfy the growing demand. Water quality affects health and ecosystems. This creates conflicts and cooperation that may be enhanced by public policy, institution building and social organization.
This book addresses the following topics: the contemporary model for water management and alternative approaches; the socioeconomic framework, water policy and institutions; water use for food purposes, water-resources inventory and irrigation; manifestations of welfare loss and water prices; change in dietary patterns and water security; hydrological stress and pressures on water availability; groundwater management problems; vulnerability and climate change; water demand of major crops; gray water footprint and water pollution; gray water footprint and mining; virtual water and food trade; estimates of the water footprint of four key cereals, forage, livestock and bottled drinks. It is the result of a cooperation between 16 researchers from eleven Mexican academic institutions.
This comprehensive volume presents the topic of water resources of Mexico from a different angle. Besides covering the geohydrology it also offers a brief account of the ancient water resources works, explains from where the water is coming, how the water is being used in homes and in the industry, how the dams are operated in the hurricane season, some aspects of the water-energy-food securities nexus and the expectations for the future in connection with global climate change. The book is of interest to every one connected with the water resources of Mexico, e.g. federal and state employees of agencies related with water management, water supply and wastewater treatment. It is also of value to those in academia and employed at water related professional associations and the general public.
Water Services Management and Governance focuses on water services (water supply, wastewater services) and deals with connections between water resources and services and water resources. It covers water supply mainly in urban communities, sanitation and pollution control and water resources and their linkages to water services. This book is divided in to four key sections relating to governance frameworks, technology and socio-ecological interactions, government and governance, and long terms policies. The chapters analyse the complexity of the water services sector based on a historical analysis of developments within the sector. The underlying conviction is that only by understanding past trends, processes and developments can the current situation in the water services be understood. Only through this understanding can policies for sustainable water services in the future be formulated. The four key sections relate to governance frameworks, technology and socio-ecological interactions, government and governance, and long terms policies. Water Services Management and Governance raises awareness that an understanding of the past is a necessity to explore potential, probable and preferable futures. It is an essential basis for water sector reforms in any country, region or community. The book is written for experts in water utilities, ministries, municipalities, NGOs, donor agencies, private companies and regulators; as well as students and researchers in water policy and governance, and the management of water resources, services and infrastructure. Editors: Dr. Petri S. Juuti is a historian, and Adjunct Professor in the universities of Tampere, Oulu and Turku. Tapio S. Katko, Civil engineer, Adjunct Professor, UNESCO Chairholder in Sustainable Water Services at Tampere University of Technology, Finland. Klaas Schwartz, Senior Lecturer, Urban Water Governance in the Department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands. Assistant Editor: Riikka P. Rajala, Environmental Engineer, Post-Doctoral researcher in University of Tampere, Finland.
The report provides evidence-based assessment and policy recommendations in support of Mexico’s water reform. It analyses implementation bottlenecks and identifies good practices.
This Handbook is the first comprehensive account of comparative environmental law. It examines in detail the methodological foundations of the discipline as well as the substance of environmental law across countries from four vantage points: country studies from all continents, responses to common problems (including air pollution, water management, nature conservation, genetically modified organisms, climate change and energy, chemicals, waste), foundational components of environmental law systems (including principles, property rights, administrative and judicial organisation, command-and-control regulation, market mechanisms, informational techniques and liability mechanisms), and common interactions of environmental protection with the broader public, private, and criminal law contexts. The volume brings together the foremost authorities in this field from around the world to provide a concise, self-contained, and technically rigorous account of environmental law as a single overall system.
