In addition to paying a monthly tariff for drinking water, drainage, and sanitation, an average family in the Valley of Mexico spends over 4,000 pesos per year to compensate for recurring service cuts and other service-related deficiencies.
Families lacking potable water must pay much more to be able to bathe, cook, wash their clothes, and quench their thirst.
Although 91.6 percent of inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico have a connection to potable water in their homes, the service is typically irregular.
In addition to these challenges, the inhabitants of this area already consume more water than is available.
The report “Agua urbana en el Valle de México: ¿Un camino verde para mañana?” (Urban Water in the Valley of Mexico: A Green path for Tomorrow?) clearly predicts that if measures are not taken, by 2030, three systems will be required like the one in Cutzamala, where water is made potable and distributed for the Mexico state and the Federal District.
Inefficient, unsustainable, and inequitable
The study emphasizes that water management in the Valley of Mexico is not on par with other major Latin American cities. “It is inefficient, unsustainable, and inequitable and therefore jeopardizes the ability of future generations to also benefit from such a vital resource as water,” says the report.
The region’s population has grown by a factor of 5.6 between 1950 and 2005, but there is very limited water availability. The city of Monterrey has, for example, 6.5 times more water available per inhabitant per year than the Valley of Mexico.
In addition, 32 percent of the water used in the Valley comes from rivers, lakes, and other sources that are being depleted as a result of overexploitation.
When water use is analyzed against international standards, one third of the water is not used efficiently owing, among other reasons, to the amount lost through leaks in the network and in homes.