Alejandro Gomez has been without decent running water for almost three months. It sometimes turns on for an hour or two, but only in modest amounts, hardly enough to fill a couple of buckets. Then, nothing for a few days.
Gomez, who lives in Mexico City’s Tlalpan area, does not have a large storage tank. Thus, he cannot receive water truck supplies since there is nowhere to put them. Instead, he and his family make do with whatever they can afford to purchase and store.
When they wash themselves, they use the runoff to flush the toilet. “We need water, it’s essential for everything.”
According to Gomez, water shortages are typical in this community, but this one seems different. “Right present, we are experiencing scorching weather. It’s much worse; things are more convoluted.”
Mexico City, a vast metropolis of almost 22 million people and one of the world’s largest cities, is experiencing a severe water crisis as a slew of issues—including topography, chaotic urban expansion, and leaky infrastructure—are exacerbated by climate change.
Years of deficient rainfall, extended dry spells, and high temperatures have stressed a water infrastructure struggling to keep up with rising demand. Authorities have been compelled to impose considerable limitations on water pumped from reservoirs.
“Several neighborhoods have suffered from a lack of water for weeks, and there are still four months left for the rains to start,” said Christian Domínguez Sarmiento, an atmospheric scientist at the National Autonomous University.
Politicians are downplaying any feeling of catastrophe, but some experts warn the situation has already reached such critical levels that Mexico’s metropolis might face “day zero” in a matter of months when the taps run dry for vast swathes of the metropolis.
Historical lows
Mexico City is densely inhabited and spreads on a high-altitude lake bed, about 7,300 feet above sea level. It was constructed on clay-rich soil and is currently sinking, making it prone to earthquakes and very sensitive to climate change. It’s one of the last areas anybody would want to create a megacity nowadays.
In 1325, the Aztecs picked this location to create their metropolis of Tenochtitlan, which was once a collection of lakes. They developed on an island, spreading the city outwards and creating networks of canals and bridges to cooperate with the water.
However, when the Spanish came in the early 16th century, they demolished part of the city, drained the lakebed, filled in canals, and cleared woods. They saw “water as an enemy to overcome for the city to thrive,” according to Jose Alfredo Ramirez, an architect and co-director of Groundlab, a design and policy research organization.
‘Day Zero?’
The situation has sparked a heated discussion about whether the city would approach “day zero” when the Cutzamala system cannot furnish water to its citizens.
In early February, local media extensively reported that an official from a Conagua branch said that if there is no significant rain, “day zero” might occur as early as June 26.
However, officials have already assured locals that there would be no Day Zero. In a news conference on February 14, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that efforts were ongoing to fix the water issues. In a recent press conference, Mexico City Mayor Martí Batres Guadarrama dismissed rumors of day zero as “fake news” by political opponents.
Conagua denied interview requests and did not respond to specific questions on the possibility of a day zero.
However, many analysts warn of a worsening problem. According to Sosa-Rodríguez, Mexico City may run out of water before the rainy season if current use patterns continue. “It’s probable that we will face a day zero,” she said.
