Covid reveals the gap in water access in Mexico City between the rich and the poor

The coronavirus pandemic reveals the impact of Mexico City’s escalating water crisis on vulnerable families, while closed communities enjoy reliable supplies

Severa Galicia Flores hasn’t had clean water for her home since 2017, when a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck central Mexico – and the San Gregorio Atapulco neighborhood, where she lives in Mexico City, was hit hard.

“Then, every time we turn on the water, it turns yellow,” said Galicia Flores. “We tried to drink it for a while, sterilized it with bleach, but the kids started getting sick.”

The 68-year-old and her family have tried a variety of options over the years, knowing that once-clean water was a lost cause.

Elena Hernandez Galicia, daughter of Galicia Flores, explained, “We live near a city well, but this is where only yellow water comes out. There is even a sign in the front:” Not drinkable. ”

The family is one of many who regularly struggle to obtain clean water in Mexico City – an estimated 1.3 million of the city’s 9 million residents lack regular access to water. With the spread of the Coronavirus in the city, water-poor households are particularly vulnerable to infection.

Last year, the General Coordinator of the Water System in Mexico City (SAACMEX), Rafael Bernardo Carmona, admitted that more than 40% of the city’s running water is lost due to leaks.

Thanks to increasingly harsh weather conditions brought on by climate change, coupled with rapid urban growth, the situation has become critical: The World Bank and the Mexican National Water Commission project a massive water deficit by 2030, seriously affecting water access for millions more.

Severa Galicia Flores stores well water in plastic jugs, and sterilizes it with bleach, in her yard (Photo Source: Kylie Madre)

In Mexico, water has been a constitutionally protected human right since 2012 and is heavily subsidized – if at all. Pedro Moctezuma Barragán, Professor of Environmental Sociology at Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) in Mexico City and water activist with Agua para [email protected], Agua para la Vida (Water for All, Water for Life), was the key to the struggle for constitutional recognition. He said, “Our government made this promise to us, and now they have to fulfill it.”

The Mexico City government has classified San Gregorio Atlapulco, where Galicia Flores lives in Xochimilco, as a “priority area of ​​concern”, with some of the highest cases of the new coronavirus in the region.

Most residents of the area are in a similar situation, with some spending days without water coming out of the tap, forcing them to choose between washing hands regularly and other daily activities such as washing dishes, washing clothes and bathing. It’s a cruel twist of irony, as “Atlapulco” is a Nahautl “where the water flows” – the neighborhood has been known for centuries for its fresh water.

“The water shortage in Mexico has definitely made Covid worse,” Paragan said. “If you look at the map of neighborhoods that do not have water, and neighborhoods with large numbers of Coronavirus, they are similar.”

Severa Galicia Flores (right) sits in her front garden with her daughter Elena Hernandez Galicia and her granddaughter Melissa Fuentes Hernandez (Photo source: Kylie Madre)

Fortunately for Galicia Flores and her family, the local nonprofit organization Isla Urbana is installing a rainwater harvesting system in her home today, nearly three years after the earthquake. They were chosen from a handful of applicants in the neighborhood.

“[The rainwater harvesting systems] “Especially important in light of the health crisis,” said Emilio Bisrill, Isla Urbana, Public Policy and Administration Coordinator. With more and better water, [recipients] It can enjoy higher levels of hygiene and health, save time for other productive activities like education, work, etc. Apart from that, it greatly reduces stress caused by water scarcity. ”

The group hopes to install 22 systems through September, with another 15 in October. Since its founding in 2015, Isla Urbana has established around 350 in San Gregorio Atlapulco alone.

City officials and some scholars describe Isla Urbana’s mission as the ultimate solution to Mexico City’s degraded water infrastructure. The group won a contract with the city’s environment ministry to design and implement a citywide program, installing 10,000 systems in 2019. It is in talks to implement another phase in 2021.

Isla Urbana installs a rainwater harvesting system at Severa Galicia Flores’ home on September 9, 2020 (Photo Source: Kylie Madre)

The struggle for access to water is not just an engineering problem, it is deeply political.

Alejandro Ogaldi González recalls how water used to flow freely through San Bartolo Mellico, the neighborhood in which he grew up. With a freshwater spring that has been providing water to residents for centuries, things changed in San Bartolo when mega housing projects began to rise nearby, he says.

“These tremendous developments for the wealthy, every home has its own tanks of up to 20,000 gallons of water, and they use it to wash their cars and their horses, water their gardens and everything,” Ogaldi Gonzalez said. Meanwhile, we stopped getting water in San Bartolo. Now the neighborhood is divided into two parts: the upper and the lower part. We have to replace the water. Some people get water during the day, and others only at night. ”

He hates placing all the blame on the developers, however, saying the local government, the municipality of Alvaro Obregon, has allowed it. He said, “Of course if we ask them if this is happening, they will deny it.” “But where else can all this water go? We know how much water is coming out of the spring. But we haven’t gotten any of it.”

That is why, in 2014, San Bartolo’s neighbors distanced themselves from the municipality, restoring its “traditional representation” as the origin of the pueblo (a small city that was later absorbed into Mexico City).

In the gated communities of San Bartolo Melco, residents have plenty of water to keep their lawns lush (Photo: Kylie Madre)

This means they now have a semi-autonomous governing body, to which Ogaldi Gonzalez was appointed in January, although many administrative issues such as water management are still in the hands of the city.

The move was prompted by the events of May 21, 2014, when residents sought to prevent the installation of pipelines that they feared would redirect water to other neighborhoods. The municipality has sent 1,500 police to “protect” the facility. In the resulting conflict, 100 citizens were injured and five were arrested more than a year ago.

“It was a gross violation of human rights,” said Ogaldi Gonzalez, “why don’t we trust them?”

In the midst of a pandemic, many residents are still spending days without water. “The municipality tells us that they will send us the bibs [water tankers]But they refuse to come here, said Ogaldi Gonzalez. And just like in San Gregorio Atlapulco, Covid-19 cases were high in San Bartolo Milico – despite the neighborhood being dropped from the government’s “priority of concern” list in August.

There are other factors at play besides water, of course: Ogaldi Gonzalez points to an early lack of education about the coronavirus, pre-existing health conditions, and a lack of government support as contributors to the havoc the virus has wrought in the region in the past six months.

Residents of San Bartolo Melaco painted a mural on the side of the neighborhood’s water pumping station, the site of the clash that took place on May 21, 2014 with the police. The mural says “Freedom for political prisoners” and “Water is not a commodity.” (Photo credit: Alejandro Ogaldi Gonzalez)

For citizens who have low confidence in their government, rainwater harvesting systems can provide the support needed to trust in a city known for its rainy season and its floods. Every afternoon for nearly half of the year, massive amounts of water cascade through the city like clockwork – leaving billions of gallons of usable water wasted. Because Mexico City lacks a comprehensive drainage system, most of this rain flows into streets, metro stations and homes, costing Mexico an estimated $ 230 million (£ 178 million) per year.

Mario Lopez Perez, who has worked for the National Water Commission of Mexico (Konagua) for decades, explained that the city’s sewage system was more than fifty years old, and the city’s population had expanded rapidly at that time. “The pipes are not designed to handle twice the capacity of the water they used to handle,” he said.

Experts predict floods will get worse, as climate change causes more erratic weather patterns – in September alone, Mexico City saw some of its steepest rains in the past 20 years. Besides flood damage, the crisis has exacerbated city drowning levels, sewage spills and earthquakes.

Rainwater harvesting may not be a long-term solution to floods, but it can provide relief to an overproductive and shortage water system. “They cut costs for families just as much as the government bears, because in the absence of water, they have to subsidize bibs and other water delivery methods,” Bakarrell said.

However, the relief they give to individuals and families may not be the golden ticket. “[Rainwater harvesting systems] “It helps, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” said Lopez Perez. The former official points to more complex approaches, such as better urban planning, and the search for more natural water sources, to prevent future generations from dispensing with them.

But today, Lopez asks Perez, “What should I wash my hands if I don’t have anything?”

This article is part of the Climate Justice Reporting Program supported by the Climate Resilience Fund. You can find our reporting policy here.

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