Challenges of Water Sensitive Cities in Mexico: The Case of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara

Jose Arturo Gleason,Cesar Casiano Flores

doi:10.3390/w13050601

Abstract

Mexico is currently facing important water management challenges. Cities in the country are facing water scarcity and at the same time they struggle with floods during the raining season. The water sensitive urban design (WSUD) approach has proved to be helpful around the world in tackling urban water challenges such as floods or water scarcity. The WSUD approach highlights the role of both the water cycle and the water utilities systems, when transitioning towards a water sensitive stage. Therefore, the objective of this research is to demonstrate the relevance for cities of a WSUD approach by analyzing the current situation of the water cycle and the water utility in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG). This research proposes a case study approach. Within our case of study, we focused on the water cycle and the water utilities system (Sistema Intermunicipal de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado (SIAPA)) and ask two questions: (1) What are the causes of water scarcity and flooding in the MAG? and (2) What are the proposals to solve these problems under a WSUD approach? By answering these questions, we identified that the water management in the MAG corresponds to a single purpose infrastructure. This type of water management is common in developing cities and does not contribute to solve the problems of water scarcity and floods. The water supply policy is based only on the construction of large dams disregarding the storage and use of rainwater, and reuse of greywater, and water-conservation devices. In order to transition towards a water sensitive stage, changes in the water policy need to take place and a WSUD approach that includes multi-purpose infrastructure, should be considered.

Highlights

Urban areas worldwide are facing numerous water scarcity challenges such as delivery of drinking water supply, wastewater production, and depleted aquifers [1], and at the same time water urban flood recurrences are increasing, due to factors such as climate change, population growth, changes in land use and aging or inadequate infrastructures [1]
We have focused on the water cycle and the water utility operation due to their strong relation and because the integration of the water cycle in the urban infrastructure is key for the water sensitive urban design (WSUD) approach
The research questions for this case study are: (1) What are the causes of water scarcity and flooding in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG)? (2) What are the proposals to solve these problems under a WSUD approach? These questions have the purpose of obtaining the necessary evidence to demonstrate the relevance for cities of a

Summary

Introduction

Urban areas worldwide are facing numerous water scarcity challenges such as delivery of drinking water supply, wastewater production, and depleted aquifers [1], and at the same time water urban flood recurrences are increasing, due to factors such as climate change, population growth, changes in land use and aging or inadequate infrastructures [1]. Cities are complex systems where various actors and processes interact through geographic, institutional and governance scales [3]. This complexity creates challenges when implementing strategies to solve water scarcity and flood challenges. The type of adaptation depends on the cultural, technological, economic, and governance contexts [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion