Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen 68, núm. 3, 2016, p. 409‒427 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2016v68n3a3

Diagnóstico y análisis de los factores que influyen en la vulnerabilidad de las fuentes de abastecimiento de agua potable a la Ciudad de México, México

Oscar Escolero, Stefanie Kralisch, Sandra E. Martínez, María Perevochtchikova

Departamento de Geología Regional, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, México.
Department of Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstr. 12, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Departamento de Geología Regional, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, México.
Centro de estudios ambientales, El Colegio de México AC, Camino al Ajusco N° 20, Pedregal de Sta. Teresa 10740, Ciudad de México, México.

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Abstract

The increase in population density and dynamics of urban expansion, with a sharp upward trend in urban areas and declining rural population, make megacities vulnerable with a high degree of complexity in the task of providing basic urban services. In the case of Mexico City, the increase in the demand for water has negatively and increasingly impacted the balance of watersheds and aquifers that serve as local and neighboring sources of water supply, causing dramatic economic and environmental damage. This work focuses on the examination of the factors that influence the vulnerability of drinking water sources in Mexico City; we analyzed factors that are directly related to hydraulic infrastructure, legal-administrative and social aspects, as well as other issues of considerable importance for the sustainability of sources.

It was determined that the most important factors are related to the present and future availability of water, social and political conflicts, land subsidence as a result of intensive groundwater extraction, intersectoral transfer of water, and environmental degradation in areas of surface water collection and groundwater recharge. It was established that high vulnerability of surface water supply sources due to environmental degradation brings pressure to reassess water importation projects and to protect the upper parts of the basins, which should be considered as priority issues for environmental and civil protection, care of recharge areas and conservation of the local climate.

Keywords: vulnerability, water supply, water management, water infrastructure, environmental degradation.