ABSTRACT

The growth of Mexico City and its metropolitan area has exceeded any imagination, speculation, dream or nightmare. Approximately 20,000,000 inhabitants have begun the third millennium in a degraded habitat due to growing urbanization without the necessary public services, with congested roadways, polluted air, street violence, hunger and thirst. Among all the problems faced by the population situated in the valley of Mexico, the environmental problem becomes more important with each passing day, since it is related to the resource base that sustains life and also on a large scale to the economy of this region. The environmental problem fundamentally refers to the use, abuse and pollution of the water, air and ground, as well as the inefficient use of energy and the growing production of solid wastes. In this article an analysis of the supply, use and availability of water in the metropolitan area of the valley of Mexico will be presented. Water is of fundamental importance for survival and the viability of economic development of the country.