Water Security and Groundwater: The Absence of Scientific Criteria in Groundwater Management Through Three Case Studies in Mexico

Abstract

The water debate seems to be summarized in two fully opposite positions: (i) the Dublin Conference of 1992 perspective favors movements that defend against the introduction of market economies in the management of water, arguing the production of “water scarcity”; and (ii) the groups calling for water as a “common good,” recognizing that there is enough fresh water access but an unequal appropriation. However, both lack to propose the required scientific research to guarantee a hidden basic concept: water insecurity. Countries such as China, Japan, Australia, and Canada, have implemented methodologies as the Tóthian groundwater flow system (Tóth 1962, 1999, 2016), concept that provides with solid interdisciplinary analyses of the related ambient components. In Mexico the situation is different, various political-administrative factors have prevailed over the scientific understanding of the functioning of groundwater. Through three case studies: Querétaro State, and the Northern, and Southern international boundaries of Mexico (transboundary groundwater) that reflect challenges in water management; such as the characterization and evaluation of groundwater flow systems shared. This chapter seeks to contribute to reveal the political and scientific elements that characterize groundwater management in Mexico, and its relation to Water Security.