RAINWATER HARVESTING IN MEXICO CITY: Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has promised to install 100,000 rainwater harvesting systems on rooftops by the end of her six-year-tenure

Note to Reader:

According to UN-backed research, Mexico City — along with Cairo, Bangalore, Cape Town, and seven other megalopolises — will run out of water by 2030. Those who suffer from water shortages today pay for private water companies to fill up their tanks.  The new mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, an environmental scientist, promised to install 100,000 rainwater harvesting systems on rooftops in the  Iztapalapa district by the end of her six-year-tenure.

A rainbow over Mexico City. (Photo by Artotem / CC BY 2.0)

Mexico City’s Rain-Harvesting Program Could Change How Cities Manage Water

“Set on a mile-and-a-half-high basin and surrounded by mountains, the city — which used to be integrated with a system of lakes and rivers — Mexico City receives more yearly rainfall than London,” wrote Alan Grabinsky. “But, due to urbanization policies implemented since the Spanish conquest and strengthened by the city’s mid-twentieth century growth, the resource has been squandered and mismanaged, profoundly affecting the ecosystem and the survival of its millions of inhabitants.

“To install the harvesting systems Sheinbaum is partnering with Isla Urbana, an NGO that has been installing these systems since 2009. If they are successful, over half a million people could survive for up to seven months without accessing the urban water grid.”

To Learn More:

To read the complete article by Alan Grabinsky, download a copy of Mexico City’s Rain-Harvesting Program Could Change How Cities Manage Water