Newfound aquifer may ease Mexico City's water woes
Newfound aquifer may ease Mexico City's water woes
The megacity's water shortage could be eased by an aquifer a mile under the surface of Iztapalapa, a neighborhood whose terrible water quality is the butt of local jokes.
By Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times
January 21, 2013, 6:41 p.m.
MEXICO CITY — It turns out a partial solution to this unwieldy megacity's vexing water problem may have been under residents' feet all along — albeit a long way down.
Mexico City government officials Monday announced the discovery of an aquifer more than a mile below ground that could provide enough water for at least some of the metropolitan area's 20 million residents. Officials say the aquifer could reduce the city's dependence on water pumped from outlying areas and reduce the strain on the region's shallower aquifers — the over-pumping of which is causing the city to sink precipitously, in some cases more than a foot each year.
The city's water department drilled an exploratory well recently in the eastern borough of Iztapalapa, a densely packed urban zone where the quality of water — much of which is drawn from shallower depths — is poor enough to be the punch line for many local jokes.
The news of a new water source was received with excitement in a city where experts have been predicting that demand for water could eventually outstrip supply. During a severe drought in 2009, some poorer neighborhoods were denied water service or subject to severe rationing. The city government hauled water into some areas by truck.
More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-water-20130122,0,994648.story
