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North America’s biggest city is running out of water

May 11, 2024

North America’s biggest city is running out of water

Mexico City is staring down a water crisis. It won’t be the last city to do so.

A boat stranded on the dry floor of the Miguel Alemán dam on February 28, 2024, in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
Mexico City is being threatened by a water crisis after the main reservoirs remain under 40 percent of their full capacity due to low rainfall, geography, and lack of infrastructure.
 Hector Vivas/Getty Images.

Mexico City is parched.

After abysmally low amounts of rainfall over the last few years, the reservoirs of the Cutzamala water system that supplies over 20 percent of the Mexican capital’s 22 million residents’ usable water are running out.

“If it doesn’t start raining soon, as it is supposed to, these [reservoirs] will run out of water by the end of June,” Oscar Ocampo, a public policy researcher on the environment, water, and energy, told my colleagues over on the Today, Explained podcast.

Already, some households receive unusably contaminated water; at times, others receive none at all. It’s stoking tensions over obvious inequities: Who gets water and who doesn’t?

The crisis is also leading Mexico City to siphon more from the underground aquifers on which the city sits, a decision that’s not just unsustainable without replenishment but also causes the ground to sink — at a rate of almost five inches each year, Ocampo said.

While many factors that led to this moment might be specific to Mexico City, or CDMX (including the Spanish colonists’ decision hundreds of years ago to drain the lake on which the city originally sat), or this moment in time (see: El Niño exacerbating droughts), the bigger issue is not.

Bogotá, Colombia, is rationing water amid a drought that has pushed reservoirs to “historically low” levels. And you might remember Cape Town staring down its own Day Zero crisis in 2018. A few years earlier, Sao Paulo, Brazil confronted a similar situation.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Popocatepetl Violently Erupts, And Authorities Warn A Bigger Eruption Could Threaten More Than 20 Million People In Mexico City

November 14, 2017

Popocatepetl Violently Erupts, And Authorities Warn A Bigger Eruption Could Threaten More Than 20 Million People In Mexico City

Mt. Popocatepetl is one of the most important volcanoes on the entire planet, and yet most Americans are not familiar with it.  In ancient Aztec, Popocatepetl means “smoking mountain”, but to the locals the 5,426-meter-high volcano is simply known as “Don Goyo”.  A catastrophic eruption of “Don Goyo” would be a nightmare scenario for the more than 20 million people living in the Mexico City metropolitan area, and that is why authorities are watching Mt. Popocatepetl very closely at the moment.  In fact, we are being warned that the eruption that just took place could be a precursor to an even larger eruption…

Chilling footage showing the violent eruption emerged online amid fears there could be more.

A huge plume of smoke blasted three kilometres in to the air from the summit of Popocatepetl after a series explosions over the course of 24 hours.

Surrounding towns were blanketed with ash and debris and authorities are now warning a bigger eruption could threaten the 23.6million inhabitants in the Mexican capital, located just 35 miles (56km) away.

This latest eruption actually resulted in what is known as a “volcanotectonic earthquake”.  Such quakes are caused by the movement of magma, and scientists are very concerned about what that might mean.

“Don Goyo” has been spewing ash regularly since early this month, and at this point local residents are being told to remain indoors…

Locals have been warned to avoid outdoor activities and to keep doors and windows shut, and it is not yet clear when they can leave their homes.

It has been emitting ash since the beginning of the month, reports suggest, before a string of explosions.

Of course the activity at Mt. Popocatepetl has been ramping up for quite a while.  Back on September 19th, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that affected Mexico City also triggered a minor eruption of the volcano.

But minor eruptions can be handled.  What we want to avoid is the kind of catastrophic eruption that has given Popocatepetl legendary status.  In fact, we are told that at one time enormous mud flows from the volcano buried entire Aztec cities…

The Morning After: Mexican Earthquake Leaves Over 248 Dead, Millions Without Electricity

September 20, 2017

The Morning After: Mexican Earthquake Leaves Over 248 Dead, Millions Without Electricity

Across central Mexico, rescue workers including soldiers and volunteers worked late into the night Tuesday to free the living who were still trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings following Mexico’s deadliest earthquake in more than 30 years.

The death toll from the 7.1 magnitude quake – which bizarrely occurred on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that left 5,000 dead – has climbed to 248, with more than half of those deaths occurring in the Mexican capital city.  It also comes two weeks after another powerful quake left nearly 100 dead in Mexico City. The quake was unusually close to Mexico City, located just 60 miles south of the capital in Chiautla de Tapia, a small town in neighboring Puebla state, according to Mexico’s seismological service.

More are feared dead, including possibly dozens of teachers and schoolchildren feared buried in the rubble of a Mexico City school, one of hundreds of buildings that was destroyed by the quake, according to Reuters.

Additionally, several buildings collapsed in the chic neighborhoods of Roma and Condesa in central Mexico City, where many foreigners live. In Condesa, rescue workers scrambled to find eight to 10 people believed trapped under the debris of a building that collapsed near Mexico Park, one of the city’s most famous parks. Hundreds of volunteers formed a human chain to help clear rubble and bring food and water to rescue workers.

Mexico was also hit earlier this month by Hurricane Katia, which killed two. Even the Popocatépetl volcano southeast of the city sent a large cloud of ash into the sky on Tuesday. “This is too much. It’s like we’re cursed or something,” said Marcos Santamaría, a 62-year-old retiree.

Philippines and the United Nations have offered to support the recovery effort. At least 30 second-grade students are still missing, along with eight adults.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

At Least 47 Dead, Many Trapped After Powerful Quake Rocks Mexico City

September 19, 2017

At Least 47 Dead, Many Trapped After Powerful Quake Rocks Mexico City

Update 2 (4:38 pm ET): The governor of the Mexican state of Morelos said at least 42 people have died in the central Mexican state, which shares a border with Puebla, the state that contains Mexico City. Counting the five confirmed deaths in the state of Puebla, the quake’s body count has risen to 47.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government has asked to restrict phone and internet use to emergency situations only as the Mexican military has arrived in the Roma and Condesa areas of the capital city.

*MEXICAN MILITARY ARRIVE IN ROMA, CONDESA AREA OF CAPITAL
*MEXICO GOV ASKS TO RESTRICT PHONE, INTERNET FOR EMERGENCIES

Mexico City’s governor says 27 buildings have collapsed…

*MEX. PRES SAYS 27 BUILDINGS IN MEX CITY HAVE COLLAPSED:TELEVISA

Update (4:05 pm ET): The BBC is reporting that several deaths have already been reported as a result of the quake. Reuters says at least five have been killed. The AP quoted Mexico City’s mayor as saying that there are reports of peole still trapped in collapsed buildings.

President Donald Trump has taken time out of his day of meetings at the UN to tweet his support: “God bless Mexico City. We are with you and we will be there for you.”

Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump

God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you.

Meanwhile, there are reports that tremors were felt as far away as Guadalajara, more than 300 miles away…

* * *

On the anniversary of a massive 1985 earthquake that killed at least 5,000 people, Mexico City has been shaken by another powerful earthquake, the second the shake the city in the past two weeks. The 7.1 magnitude quake shook buildings in the capital city, sending thousands rushing into the streets, according to Reuters.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

Mexico’s War on Journalists

August 14, 2015

Mexico’s War on Journalists

Earlier this summer, Ruben Espinosa fled Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz after receiving death threats. His work as a photojournalist there had made him an enemy of the state’s governor, who presides over one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter.

On July 31, Espinosa was found beaten and shot dead in a Mexico City apartment.

Eight months ago, Nadia Vera, a student activist and cultural worker,looked boldly into a camera lens and told an interviewer that if anything happened to her, Veracruz governor Javier Duarte and his cabinet should be held responsible. She also fled Veracruz to the nation’s capital after suffering attacks.

On July 31, Nadia Vera was found sexually tortured and murdered, shot point-blank in the same apartment.

Three more women were assassinated in the normally tranquil, upper-middle class neighborhood that afternoon — an 18 year-old Mexican named Yesenia Quiroz, a Colombian identified only as “Nicole,” and a 40 year-old domestic worker named Alejandra. The press generally refers to the case as “the murder of Ruben Espinosa and four women,” relegating the women victims to anonymity even in death.

At a recent demonstration of journalists and human rights defenders, the sense of dread was palpable. As communicators in Mexico, we’re angry and intensely frustrated at how so many of our ranks have been killed, disappeared, displaced, or censored with no repercussions.

 

For many, including me, this crime especially hit home. For a long time, whenever I was asked if I was afraid to speak out critically in Mexico, I answered that fortunately Mexico City was relatively safe. Drug cartels and their allies in government only kept close tabs on reporters in more disputed areas.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

 

 

 

The Great Change: Revolucíon

November 27, 2014

The Great Change: Revolucíon.

We arrived to rural México in time for the 104th anniversary of Dia de la Revolucíon.The dirt streets of this small village whose central plaza we sit in to write this were lined with people waving flags and singing Cielito Lindo to their children, dressed as revolutionaries, on parade.

Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores,
Porque cantando se alegran,
cielito lindo, los corazones.

[Ay, yai, yai, yai,

sing and don’t cry,

because singing gladdens,

my pretty little love (or our little heaven), the hearts.
]

 

The hearts here are not gladdened at the moment. México has just witnessed the largest street demonstrations in its history, complete with plainclothes agents provocateur smashing windows in Mexico City before being videotaped getting back into their police van (the official government line is that they were “anarchist infiltration”).

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Thousands march in Mexico over students – Americas – Al Jazeera English

November 21, 2014

Thousands march in Mexico over students – Americas – Al Jazeera English.

Tens of thousands of people angered by the presumed massacre of 43 students are marching in Mexico City as part of another day of nationwide protests.

Protesters on Thursday waved blackened flags of Mexico and many chanted for the resignation of President Enrique Pena Nieto. “He will fall, he will fall, Pena Nieto will fall,” they chanted.

Some protesters clashed with riot police near the city’s international airport at the start of the day’s demonstrations, burning tyres, throwing firebombs and launching firecrackers at police.

Thursday’s protest was the latest protest over the government’s handling of a crime that has infuriated Mexicans fed up with corruption, impunity and a drug war that has left more than 100,000 people dead or missing since 2006.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Violent protests over Mexico student massacre – Americas – Al Jazeera English

November 9, 2014

Violent protests over Mexico student massacre – Americas – Al Jazeera English.

Furious protesters tried to break into Mexico City’s National Palace during nationwide demonstrations over the apparent massacre of 43 students that has angered the nation.

Protesters on Saturday slammed metal barricades against the door and briefly set it on fire but could not get into the palace, which is mostly used by President Enrique Pena Nieto for ceremonies.

Hundreds of demonstrators also burned several vehicles and threw firebombs at a southern Mexican state’s headquarters.

More than 300 students, many wearing masks, descended on the Guerrero government headquarters on  and burned around 10 vehicles, including trucks.

Mexico was confronted with one of the grisliest massacres in years of drug violence after gang suspects confessed to slaughtering 43 missing students and dumping their charred remains in a river.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Olduvai IV: Courage
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Olduvai II: Exodus
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