Weather Worsens Mexico City's Water Shortage

Wall Street Journal ^ | 12 September 2008 | Nicholas Casey

[Lorianne]

This megacity -- which was built on the bed of a lake -- may be close to running out of water.

One of the principal reservoirs that feeds Mexico City, the Cutzamala dam system, is nearly half-empty and continuing to drop. Water shutoffs have become routine in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

A respite came this week with a few days of heavy rain. But with the country facing what could be one of its driest years in nearly seven decades, the government is running ads with a dire prediction: "February 2010: The City May Run Out of Water."

"If we can't get control of water demand here, the difference between what's offered and what's needed is going to leave parts of this city without any water," says Ramón Aguirre, head of Mexico City's water system.

Mexico's capital, with its 19 million residents, is confronting a crisis that also is a threat elsewhere. Los Angeles, Beijing and Singapore are just a few of the world's urban centers struggling to accommodate growing populations with dwindling supplies of drinkable water.

[Joe Boucher]

If so, then batten down the hatches cause we’re gonna get a whole lot more illegal Mexicans.