And it is not safe to drink - so many Mexicans rely on dealers selling purified water at a significant markup. While US President Donald Trump has not weighed in on the current water crisis in Chihuahua, Texas Governor Greg Abbott on … We use cookies to improve our service for you. Rainwater harvesting reduces the need to obtain or import water from conventional sources, allows the creation of supply at specific points and does not depend on the traditional system. Everything we store, we use,” said Martínez, who installed his system in 2008 at a cost of about 270 dollars and whose neighbourhood was the first in Xochimilco to have RHS, since the public water supply system does not reach this area nestled between hills. Residents of this neighbourhood in southern Mexico City keep them next to their homes to supplement their water supply by buying water from tanker trucks, which they store in jerry cans, some faded by the sun and others new, and then pump it into their homes. The Citizen Assembly is set to debate Germany's environmental ambitions and make sure its voices are heard. Privacy Policy | There were people who didn’t even have a water tank to store water. raising the voices of the South and civil society on issues of development, globalisation, human rights and the environment We clean and sweep so that there is no dust on the roof and gutters, and so the water doesn’t get dirty or clogged,” said Gabino Martínez, a resident of Tehuixtitla, part of the touristy municipality of Xochimilco, one of the 16 districts that make up Mexico City. As the city and its suburbs' population exploded to today's 22 million, and agriculture and industry intensified, water demand outstripped what the lakes could provide. Although Mexico had a low degree of pressure in 2017 – 19.5 percent – its risk of water stress is high, according to the Aqueduct platform, developed by the Aqueduct Alliance, made up of governments, companies and foundations. One solution, installing low-flow toilets could cut usage by 70 percent. Monday marks the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. How capturing rain could save Mexico City from a water crisis Mexico’s Isla Urbana has installed 2,200 systems, harvested 170m litres of water and provided for 16,500 people. Gabino Martínez cleans the "Tláloc", the tank that filters dust from the rainwater collection system in his home in the Tehuixtitla neighborhood in the Xochimilco district in southern Mexico City. Proposed solutions for Mexico City are waste water treatment plants, rainwater collection, encouraging growth in other areas, and improving the current infrastructure. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS. Water-impervious surfaces such as concrete and asphalt prevent water from filtering through the ground to the depleted aquifers. So far, they've installed nearly 2,000 across the city. “Every house has a system. Drought is raging this year in Mexico, especially in the capital, whose main source of water – the Lerma-Cutzamala dam and reservoir system in the neighbouring state of Mexico – is below half its capacity. Rainwater harvesting relieves some of the demand in an autonomous fashion, reducing pressure on the government to provide the service,” the promoter of the initiative explained to IPS. Mexico City is facing a dire water crisis, and it is getting worse by the day. Water.org. In the former, the local government also helps, distributing 800 litres a week. In the dry season, neighbourhoods like Tehuixtitla and Paraje Quiltepec buy tanker truckloads of between 6,000 and 10,000 litres for 50 dollars per household. At the Xochimilco Campus of the most effective solutions to water shortage ” he said phase 2021! Encouraging wastewater treatment and reuse, built on a local level - but not to waste water hydrological.... 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