A situation in which one person has the water, and the other has the gun

March 26, 2020 10:00 PM

I went to Mexico City to understand how a city could be drinking itself to death. When I got there I wanted instead to be lied to, not to see the cathedral lowering itself into the ground and the sinkholes opening up in the street, the ankle-deep trickle where a river used to be, or the trucks toiling up a hillside to deliver water to neighbourhoods that haven’t had a regular supply in a decade.

Further reading:

At this point, we have all heard how important it is to wash our hands. But what about people who don't have clean water? Tens of millions of people in Mexico are in that very position. [Audio clip and transcript]

Mexico city Is proposing to build one of the world’s largest urban parks. More than twice the size of Manhattan, the park could restore the water systems of the region and serve as a model for cities around the world.

However, it is in the mountainous outskirts, that people are most vulnerable. In these areas, people are living off-grid and do not have access to water because there are no pipes from the city delivering water to people’s taps. Those that live in these regions rely on government supplied water trucks, known as las pipas, to bring them water. ... [the] Environment Secretariat will install 10,000 rainwater harvesting systems this year in neighborhoods “with the biggest drinking water supply problems.”

posted by chappell, ambrose (5 comments total)

Water is where this whole thing is going to break down, once the natural systems really start to go awry. 3 days without food, you survive. 3 days without water, generally you die.
posted by hippybear at 10:21 PM on March 26, 2020 [8 favorites]

Oof. Powerful article, thanks for posting.
posted by clawsoon at 6:15 AM on March 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

I listened to a great 99% Invisible episode on the water situation in Mexico City and some of the things being done to counter it with natural processes called Depave Paradise (the actual episode can be heard by clicking the play symbol in the top photo). It's such a fantastic city in such a fantastic country, I really hope they are able to adapt and thrive.
posted by urbanlenny at 7:04 PM on March 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

I found this really interesting. I'm surprised this post didn't generate more comments.
posted by Crystal Fox at 8:08 AM on March 28, 2020

This post finally explained to me why the difference between the dense, non-stop City of Mexico is so stark compared to the outlying fields near the airport . Glad that that will become a park rather than more airport. I hope that the lava gardens spoken of in the 99% invisible podcast also help.
posted by urbanlenny at 7:04 PM on March 28, 2020