Groundwater Resources of Mexico

Abstract

Groundwater constitutes an essential reserve for Mexico’s socioeconomic development because more than half of its territory is arid or semi-arid, and the water supply depends heavily on groundwater resources, in fact, about one third of the total consumption comes from aquifers. It is used to irrigate more than two million hectares of land (i.e., one third of the total irrigated land), it supplies about 70% of water requirements for the public-urban sector (60 million people living in urban centers), it provides water for most of the industrial facilities and almost the entire water demand of the rural population (20 million people). About 105 regional aquifers are subject to intensive exploitation, which has caused a serious environmental impact during the past four decades and the mining of 11 km³/year of the underground water reserve. In response, programs have been initiated for managed aquifer recharge, extraction of brackish groundwater for desalination, and exploration of aquifer strata at great depths (more than 2000 m).