Mexico celebrates World Water Day (March 22) 2016 with half of its territory suffering some level of drought. More than a thousand municipalities in Mexico lack water, which causes serious problems both for agriculture and for the population.
According to the National Water Commission (Conagua), on Feb. 29 of this year, 837 municipalities in 26 states had abnormally dry climates, 245 had moderate droughts, 33 sever droughts and 20 extreme droughts. In Oaxaca, 280 of 570 municipalities are suffering from some degree of drought. Veracruz follows with 153 out of 212; Yucatán with 86 out of 106, Michoacán with 74 out of 113, Puebla with 65 out of 217, Sonora with 51 out of 72 and Guerrero with 51 out of 81.
In Mexico, the geographic distribution of water does not correspond to the distribution of people, according to the Mexican NGO Consejo Consultivo del Agua. Average annual water consumption in Mexico is around 4,020 cubic meters per capita.
According to the NGO, there are many differences between the southeast and the north of the countries and many places with serious deficiencies of water. Twenty-seven percent of the population lives in the center and north of the country, generating 79 percent of the country’s GDP. However, that region has only 32 percent of the country’s renewable water. The south of the country has 68 percent of the water, 23 percent of the population and generates 21 percent of the GDP. Ten percent of the inhabitants don’t have access to clean drinking water and 22.7 percent of surface water is contaminated or very contaminated.
THE NEWS
ESTEBAN BATORY SANDOR
