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Comparative research of groundwater issues in Mexico City and Los Angeles: Some possible solutions

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Comparative research of groundwater issues in Mexico City and Los Angeles: Some possible solutions

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Content COMPARATIVE RESEARCH OF GROUNDWATER ISSUES IN
M EXIC O CITY AND LOS ANGELES:
SOME POSSILBE SOLUTIONS.
Copyright 2001
by
William Durand Grafton III
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ART
(Environmental Studies)
May 2001
William Durand Grafton III
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UMI Number: 1406448
Copyright 2001 by
Grafton, William Durand, III
All rights reserved.
UMI
UMI Microform 1406448
Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
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U N IVE R SITY O F S O U T H E R N C A L IF O R N IA
T H E G R A D U A T E S C H O O L
U N IV E R S IT Y P A R K
LOS A N O C L E *. C A L IF O R N IA * 0 0 0 7
This thesis, written by
William Durand Grafton III
under the direction of kiS J— Thesis Committee,
and approved by a ll its members, has been pre
sented to and accepted by the D ean of The
Graduate School, in p a rtia l fulfillm ent of the
requirements fo r the degree of
MASTER OF ART (Environmental Studies)
Deem
D ate.
: o m m :
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DEDICATION
To my grandfathers.. .their respect for water is my inspiration.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express my .great thanks to my thesis committee, Dr. Sheldon
Kamieniecki, Dr. David Heer and Dr. Robert Douglas for their guidance and direction
pertaining to this demanding thesis research. This research culminates the insight
garnered from an extensive literature review and informal interviews with numerous
environmental professionals, regulators and academic authorities both in Mexico City
and Los Angeles. As the fist of contacts would fill more than a page, I prefer to express
my general thanks to the individuals who expressed interest and provided insightful
commentary and support material. If the level of support and enthusiasm that I received
is an indication of the capacity for reform, then more than any other discovery this
research indicates that human will is present, ready to be activated by progressive
leadership. I hope that someday I can return the favor to those who supported me.
Through the research process, I developed great respect for the knowledgeable and
caring librarians at the University of Southern California. Without their assistance, this
work would have been incomplete. I would also like to express my thanks to Virginia
Reid Moore, Charles Moore and F. Edward Reynolds, Ir. for their support during
challenging episodes posed by this work. Finally, I would like to express thanks to my
parents, W. D. Grafton Jr. and Anne E. Grafton, for their belief in my capabilities.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
DEDICATION............................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................................................................... iii
LIST OF TABLES.......................... v
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 1
Chapter
1. URBAN DYNAMICS............................................................................ 20
The Mexico City Metropolitan Zone.................................................... 23
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Zone................................................... 50
Urban Dynamic Comparison................................................................ 74
2. HYDROGEOLOGY....................... 94
The Valley of Mexico..................................................... 94
The Los Angeles Basin.......................................................................... 127
Hydrogeology Comparison................................................................. 155
3. POLITICAL CULTURE................................................................................ 169
The Mexico City Metropolitan Zone................................................... 170
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Zone.................................................... 203
Political Culture Comparison.......................................... 247
CONCLUSION................................................................. 265
FOOTNOTES.................................... 284
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................ 286
APPENDIX............................................ 296
iv
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 . Business Establishments in the MCMZ............................................. 31
2. M CM Z Population Statistics (1950-95)............................................... 34
3. Natural and Social Growth Rate in the M C M Z .................................. 36
4. Migration Statistics for the Greater M C M Z........................................ 38
5. Business Establishments in the LA M Z............................................... 63
6. LAM Z Population Statistics (1950-95)............................................... 66
7. Natural and Social Growth in the L A M Z............................................ 67
8. Migration Statistics for the LA M Z...................................................... 68
9. Megacity World Ranking for the M C M Z and L A M Z ........................ 78
10. M CM Z and LA M Z Population Statistics (1950-95).......................... 80
11. Spatial Area for M C M Z and LA M Z subdivisions.............................. 84
12. Average Annual Rates of Change in Population................................. 85
13. Per Capita Water for the M CM Z and LA M Z..................................... 89
14. Percentage Differential and Relative Index Comparisons................. 91
15. Unit Conversions for Urban Dynamic Variables.................. 297
16. Unit Conversions for Hydrogeologic Variables................................... 298
v
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ABSTRACT
COMPARATIVE RESEARCH OF GROUNDWATER ISSUES IN
MEXICO CITY AND LOS ANGELES:
SOME POSSILBE SOLUTIONS.
Considering urban dynamics, hydrogeology and political culture, this research
identifies similarities and differences between Mexico City (a developing megacity that
is naturally water abundant but currently experiencing a water crisis) and Los Angeles
(a developed megacity that is naturally water scarce and experiencing persistent water
challenges). Presently, Mexico City pursues water use policies emphasizing
exploitation o f the least expensive and closest water resources. Comparatively, Los
Angeles established a proactive approach to address water resource requirements for
present and future generations. Water optimization and an institutional framework
became cornerstones o f Los Angeles water policies. This research addresses the
question, can Mexico City learn its way out o f its pending water crisis by modeling
solutions after Los Angeles’ proactive approach to its persistent water challenges?
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INTRODUCTION
“The adequacy o f a country’s institutions, more than any other factor, determines
its ability to guide its destiny. This applies most directly to managing its water
resources and the related environment” (Frederiksen 1997, 529).
In an effort to identify a potential water resource model for Mexico City, this
research compares the similarities and differences of the urban dynamics, hydrogeology
and political culture between Mexico City and Los Angeles. Throughout this study,
Mexico City will be used interchangeably with the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico City
(M C M Z) and Los Angeles will used interchangeably with the Metropolitan Zone of Los
Angeles (LAM Z). The basis for this comparative analysis is an extensive literature
review and informal interviews with academic authorities, water purveyors,
environmental regulators and environmental professionals in Mexico City and Los
Angeles.
The methodology of this research attempts to coalesce the best available
information into a framework that lends itself to a standard for comparative analysis
between the metropolitan zones. Focused on water policies and programs, this study
establishes a theoretical framework that includes the urban dynamics, hydrogeology and
the political culture characteristic o f the metropolitan zones of Mexico City and Los
Angeles. This framework will be applied in separate sections that discuss each o f these
variables in relation to water policies and programs pursued by each metropolitan zone.
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Each variable in turn will be considered within individual chapter sections relative to
(1) the M CM Z, (2) the LAM Z and (3) comparison between the two metropolitan zones.
Within the context of this research, urban dynamics, hydrogeology and political
culture are referenced on a frequent basis. In this research, urban dynamics is the
historical and recent urban growth trends including the prevailing and projected
population, the business establishments, the spatial context and migration. Hydrogeol
ogy refers the movement, occurrence and quality o f water beneath the surface. The
hydrogeology chapter includes the natural inputs and outputs, the reservoir, the
interaction between the water and rock cycles and the influence of anthropogenic
modifications. Political culture refers to the interconnected dynamics of historical and
prevailing politics including: the water quality and management institutions, the
political representatives, the constituents, the dominant and opposition parties, the
electoral system, the execution o f power, the beliefs and behaviors o f the various levels
of government and the populace. All three factors contribute to the pending water
crisis; yet, political culture plays the most significant role. In summary, this research
identifies political culture as the pivotal dynamic impacting water quality and quantity
challenges for both megacities.
This research compares the patterns of water policies and programs in Mexico
City and Los Angeles and considers the relevance of policies implemented in Los
Angeles as a foundation for potential solutions to Mexico City’s pending water crisis.
The rationale for this proposition lies in the apparent need for adjustments to Mexico
City’s water quality program and a number o f similarities including large population
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base, large industrial infrastructure, water supplies composed of both groundwater and
imported water, and water challenges.
The need for change in Mexico City’s prevailing environmental programs and
policies to protect water resources is eminent. Solutions to Mexico City’s water crisis
will stem initially from adjustments to urban dynamics, hydrogeology and political
culture. Under the rubric of urban dynamics, the Mexico City Metropolitan Zone and
the Los Angeles Metropolitan Zone are considered megacities by the United Nations.
According to the United Nations an urban agglomeration with 8 million or more
inhabitants is a megacity. (United Nations [UN], 1995) With regards to the large
industrial infrastructure, both the M C M Z and the LA M Z are national industrial hubs
that experienced decades of industrial operations without environmental regulation.
Under the rubric o f hydrogeology, the M C M Z relies on groundwater for seventy per
cent of its supply while the LA M Z relies on groundwater for thirty to fifty per cent of
its supply. The balance o f the water supply for these two megacities is imported water
that is transported long distances. Finally, the M C M Z faces a potential water crisis due
to a consumption rate that exceeds the capacity o f the extant water delivery infrastruc
ture and the limits o f the natural water resources.
Comparatively, the LAM Z is located in a semi-arid Basin that faces persistent
water challenges due to dry climatic conditions and scarce water resources. Under the
rubric of political culture, Los Angeles is far advanced in water quality and manage
ment institutions as well as public participation. With regard to water resources, this
places the LAM Z in a leadership position relative to many of the world’s megacities.
Considering Los Angeles’ relative success at managing water resources and the broad
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urban dynamic and hydrogeologic similarities, a detailed analysis o f each megacity
coupled with a comparative overview offer possible solutions to Mexico City that might
benefit other megacities as well.
On the global scale, the cases of the M CM Z and the LAM Z appear to offer in
sight to megacities in both developed and developing nations facing water resource
challenges. In general, water resource challenges faced by metropolitan decision makers
in the world’s megacities are relatively similar while the responses remain variable. In
step, some scholars have begun to make comparisons between Mexico City and other
developing megacities. Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart elucidate this point:
Growing conflicts over water use, air pollution, waste disposal, environmentally
related health problems, and natural resource depletion are all problems shared
by most Third World megalopolises. Mexico City is thus a laboratory where
many o f the processes that drive population, natural resource, and land-use
changes in the less-developed nations are being tested. It provides both fascinat
ing and terrible insights into what the future may hold for many o f the mega
lopolises o f Latin American and the Third World. (Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart
1996, 31)
Although developed and developing nations are separated by a number of char
acteristics, fundamental policies and practices implemented by sound institutions
remain common and obtainable goals for both. The significance o f a viable institutional
approach to water resource management is one such common spot. Successful cases of
water resource institutions are germane to developed and developing megacities.
The global population trend toward centralization in the world’s largest cities
highlights megacities on the global scale. The sheer size of the world’s megacities is
reaching unmanageable limits; finances to research and develop customized approaches
to metropolitan challenges are increasingly scarce. Burgeoning urban populations and
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booming economies in megacities introduce a large demand for environmental
resources as well as environmental sinks to dispose o f wastes. Locally, sprawling
growth consumes tremendous environmental resources. The impact significantly
altering the availability and quality o f local natural resources that often extends into
more remote regions. Poor urban growth management often leads to severe environ
mental degradation pointing toward the need to reanalyze future growth policies.
Mexico City provides an example o f this point.
In both developing and developed countries, water consumption for industrial
and agricultural output has led to severely degraded water supplies that often cannot be
reused without expensive remediation. This coupled with the trend toward exploitation
of the most readily available water resources first undermines the economic viability of
extending water networks and limits the options for water reuse. The phenomenal trend
of twentieth-century population concentrations in the metropolitan zones o f Mexico
City and Los Angeles manifests ecological footprints in the form o f unrestrained
consumption and degradation o f water resources. Mexico City and Los Angeles provide
a glimpse of these dynamics.
Throughout the world, the advancements o f the industrial and technological
revolutions introduced a host o f severe threats to water quality that pose a destructive
exponential variable to natural hydrologic conditions. The continual process of
urbanization over time increases development pressure on local ecosystems,
progressively expanding this pressure into more remote regions. Danilo Anton points
out that anthropogenic disturbances to surface layers also impact the hydrologic
dynamics (Anton, 1993). Chemical and biological contaminants migrating from the
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surface to the subsurface pose the potential to render water supplies unfit for domestic
and industrial consumption without remedial treatment that increases water delivery
costs.
Considering the importance o f water resources and the consumption pressure
posed by megacities, preserving and purveying water is an increasingly difficult
challenge. Advancements in water policies and programs involve two related but
independent spheres o f influence including water quality and management. To varying
degrees, both are in the jeopardy o f falling to substandard levels if prevailing urban
growth policies and practices are not balanced with respect to the extant metropolitan
water delivery network and the sustainable limits o f the hydrologic cycles. As the
status of water moves from abundance to scarcity, the nexus between human health and
prosperity becomes apparent.
A traditional solution to the requirement for additional water supplies has been
water appropriation projects that expand the water budget. However, a shift in the
political, legal and fiscal conditions now undermines solitary reliance on this approach.
In particular, increasing water supplies to meet the expanding metropolitan consump
tion presents a financial obstacle that challenges the budgetary resources o f large
metropolitan zones. This fiscal constraint is a significant variable for the megacities in
developing nations that are laden in many cases with huge international debts.
Increasingly, resolution to common water problems is an important consideration.
Frederiksen describes the significance o f successful water resource examples as models.
Countries throughout the world have confronted the same issues, and many have
devised solutions that give insight into the principles that others might adopt.
Indeed, although institutions differ from country to country, fundamental institu-
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tional principles are common under good water management, particularly coun
tries near full utilization of their resources. (Frederiksen 1997, 540)
Such examples serve as a foundation for solutions. The water resource challenges faced
by both Mexico City and Los Angeles appear to be relevant to other megacities as well.
The chaotic and rampant development patterns of Mexico City, the second larg
est city in the world, offer sobering evidence of the calamity associated with poorly
planned development. With its centralized urban growth and burgeoning population,
Mexico City carries a reputation as one o f the most polluted urban environments in the
world. Exequiel Ezcurra describes Mexico City as “the twentieth-century epitome of
urban disaster” (Ezcurra 1995, 577).
Spurred on by a political system that clings to exponential growth models o f the
Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP)1 (Mllbrath, 1989) and an economic system that
ignores the signals o f an environment under duress, the region surrounding Mexico
City, the Valley o f Mexico, is one o f the most altered environments in the world. In
Mexico City, political leadership and elites have adhered to the pro-growth, power and
money-oriented parameters characteristic o f the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP)
(Milbrath, 1989). Considering the pressure on the capital’s water resources, the
probability of a failure or collapse of the hydrologic system in the M C M Z has not
initiated the political leadership to reform water policy-making. Adopting new policies
like those that typify the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) (Milbrath, 1989) is
undermined by the prevailing political culture of control and the prevailing pro
consumption policies. Parameters characteristic of the NEP paradigm include factoring
the environment into the decision-making process to improve the outlook for
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sustainability. Despite the severe environmental degradation in the Valley signaling a
need for new environmental policies and programs, the government ignores these
signals preferring practices such as water subsidization.
Located in a closed hydrologic basin that may be contaminated by industrial and
urban contamination, Mexico City is representative o f the best and worst parts of
Mexico. Within the Valley of Mexico, the interaction between the water and rock
cycles is substantially aggravated by overexploitation of the major local aquifers
including: (1) the Metropolitan Zone, (2) Chaleo, (3) Texcoeo and (4) Cuautitlan-
Tizayuca-Pachuca. Overexploitation o f the aquifers promotes subsidence (compaction
o f soils) that generates microscopic passages and fractures introducing potential
conduits for vertical migration o f industrial contaminants (Mazari and MacKay, 1993).
Contamination and overexploitation combined with increasing water demand pose a
public health risk and a potential water crisis condition in Mexico City. Despite the
availability o f water resources, potable water has become a scarce resource in the
M C M Z due to high consumption, a leaking and antiquated delivery system and a large
potential for contamination associated with an industrial hub composed o f38,000
business establishments.
In the twentieth century, the phenomenal growth patterns o f this megacity sub
stantially altered the sustainable ecosystems of The Valley of Mexico. Advanced urban
consumption led to severe manipulations o f the environment both near and afar in
Mexico to appropriate resources for the growing megacity demand. Today, Mexico
City’s growth pattern is reaching epic proportions o f destructive capacity. Current
subsidence due to aggressive water pumping from the Mexico City aquifer causes wide
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spread damage to buildings, roads and piping and flooding is a chronic problem due to
decreased natural surface area and increased urban surfaces coverings such as concrete.
With sustained population growth, water purveyors in the metropolitan zone
have resorted to increasing local water supply by importing water from neighboring
regions. The economics associated with constructing new dams, canals, pumping
stations and reservoirs to divert and store water for the M CM Z increasingly stretch the
limits of the government. Large water appropriation projects also wreak havoc on the
external aquatic ecosystems. Diverting the quantities of water required to fulfill the
growing demand in Mexico City leaves a huge wake o f environmental destruction.
Federal agencies including Secretaria del Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca,
(SEMARNAP), Comision National de Agua (CNA), Procuraduria Federal de
Protection a! Ambiente (PROFEPA) and Instituto National de Ecologia (IN E ) and local
regulatory agencies including Direction General de Prevention y Control de la
Contamination (DGPCC) in the delegacioms o f the Federal District and Secretaria de
Ecologia in the municipios o f the State of Mexico are continually vexed by the
challenges of protecting and delivering potable water to the growing population.
Specifically, water is one o f Mexico City’s most important resources. At pre
sent, it is estimated that water consumption is nearing the capacity of Mexico City’s
water network. In the past, this challenge has been alleviated by a one-sided focus on
increasing the water network through large-scale import projects. In the past fifty years,
Mexico City’s water supplies have been proportionally composed o f an increasing share
of imported water from neighboring regions. However, the aquifer, a potentially
sustainable water supply, has been drawn down by water mining (aggressive pumping
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of ground water below a minimum threshold) and farther reduced by development on
crucial recharge zones. Additionally, a host of environmental contaminants jeopardize
the potable status of the water from the Mexico City aquifer. Even as the continuation
of water appropriation projects appears uncertain, the unknown extent o f water
contamination might pose an even more vexing challenge. Water protection and
restoration is a costly and long-term undertaking that requires a proactive strategy. In
general, provisions for protecting the quality of the Valley groundwater aquifers have
been ignored.
In Mexico City, the PRI political party has not provided the support nor financ
ing required for integration o f an effective institutional framework that meets water
quality and quantity challenges. Confounding the situation, the environmental quality
program for Mexico is impressive on paper but severely understaffed and ineffective in
effect. Many o f the environmental regulations for Mexico City are undermined by
weak enforcement. This veil o f environmental regulation is similar to experiences of
Los Angeles prior to the 1980s implementation of a full-scale water quality program.
Without a working water quality program, preliminary water monitoring is remiss and
the opportunity to curb potential contamination sources is delayed. This condition
allows manageable contamination to amplify and potentially contaminate groundwater:
a condition that vastly expands the scope and cost of remediation. The longevity and
cost associated with remediation of contaminated drinking water sources such as
groundwater merits a water quality program as one of the chief agenda items for
Mexico City. The lack o f independent and cooperative decision-making concerning
water quality and management institutions is the crux o f the M CM Z water crisis.
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Mexico City’s looming water crisis indicates that the government needs to re
consider current water consumption and urban growth patterns. The inflated population
numbers, the subsequent demand for potable water and dwindling water resources will
stress the metropolitan water resources to a point that merit the political leadership in
the M CM Z to reconsider many o f their current water and urbanization policies
including water subsidies, water resolution and urban centralization. In Mexico City,
water policy practices are not adequate to ensure the long-term sustainability o f the
metropolitan water supplies. Asit Biswas elucidates the need for improvement in
Mexico City’s water quality sector:
At present, there is no agreement on how to assess water quality efficiently
and cost-effectively on a national scale. There is no question, however, that
good knowledge of national and regional water quality conditions can only be
obtained through a reliable water quality monitoring program, which is a com
plex task under the best of circumstances. Accordingly, development of a ratio
nal framework for water quality monitoring is an essential prerequisite for effi
cient water management in Mexico. (Biswas, Barrios Ordonez, and Garcia
Cabrera 1997, 179)
Attending to the water quality component o f Mexico City’s water crisis is crucial to
provide sustainable water supplies for future generations.
As the decisions made in Mexico City tend to radiate out to the rest o f the na
tion, solutions to Mexico City’s water crisis will likely benefit other parts of the nation
experiencing water quality problems. However, it remains to be seen how the water
regulators and purveyors will cope with the myriad o f challenges that threaten the
Mexico City aquifer while developing a long-term set of solutions to provide sufficient
potable water. To date, a definitive, integrated approach that provides proactive
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solutions to Mexico City’s water crisis is remiss. Barring this in mind, it is not
untenable to consider that continuation of the former urban and water policy-making.
Historically, the political leadership o f each civilization that dominated the city
pursued political strategies culminating in Mexico City’s supremacy. Over five
millennia, strong central governments have evolved into a political culture of control
that instilled a myopic focus on centralized political participation and urban growth.
With this legacy, Mexico City emerged into what some scholars refer to as an Imperial
City. Mired in a myriad of special interests reflected in the prevailing political
strategies o f control: change is identified as a threat to be curtailed. Furthermore,
Mexico’s prevailing political culture may be considered characteristic o f experiences in
other Latin American nations and this might be extended to other developing nations as
well.
In Mexico City, political obstacles enhance the inertia in governmental arenas
that stifles progressive and innovative decision-making. Under these conditions,
political leadership is prone to pursue reactive decisions that tend to enhance short-term
political goals of control while undermining the consideration o f proactive solutions.
Sustaining old patterns of growth at the expense o f the environment increasingly
jeopardizes the ability of decision-makers to provide the necessities to the burgeoning
population. Proactive solutions to provide natural resources will be necessary to
counter the trends of growth projected in the MCMZ.
Viewing the case o f water quality and quantity in Mexico City, it becomes ap
parent that old growth models are the cornerstones to the vicious cycle of environmental
destruction in Mexico City. Mexico City’s burgeoning population and water
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consumption collide with finite water resources, scant financial resources and inertia
characteristic of the political culture. These challenges pose a threat to the viability of
the megacity’s capacity to sustain urban growth. Mexico City’s awkward position
regarding water quality and production challenges is not unique. The LAM Z also
experiences similar challenges. Los Angeles offers a successful and innovative case of
water policies incorporating independent water institutions within a cooperative
framework.
Owing to the dry climate and the frequent drought conditions, Los Angeles is
one o f the world’s most challenged megacities with respect to water resources. Water
policies and programs in Los Angeles might be classified as a struggle to overcome the
limits set by the semi-arid conditions. From the 1900s forward, water management in
the LA M Z incorporated a mix o f water optimization and water supply expansion to
meet the demand o f the burgeoning population. The capacity o f the LA M Z decision
makers to win federal and state legislative approval and funding for water appropriation
projects offset the regional water supply limits and sustained the early twentieth-century
development o f the LAMZ.
In the water scarce region o f the American southwest, Los Angeles today is the
seventh largest megacity in the world. Without access to substantial supplies of
imported water, the LAM Z would not have grown to its present status. Progressively,
Los Angeles increased its political and economic might, the precursors to appropriating
water resources in the American southwest. In many cases, water appropriation projects
that benefited Los Angeles were implemented at the expense of neighboring state such
as Arizona and Nevada. This favorable access allowed the LAM Z to continue to grow
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in respect to population and industry while parallel growth in its political and economic
strength paved the way for a continuum of favorable water rights decisions. However,
water quantity again emerged as a concern when a 1963 court ruling by the United
States Supreme Court diminished California’s imported water rights to the Colorado
River. This finding initiated the end of new external water supply projects that benefit
the LA M Z subsequently attention was shifted toward local water supplies: the local
aquifers became a significant resource.
Until recently, Los Angeles confidently grew beyond its natural capacity due to
its unparalleled position of power in the American southwest. In response to
California’s dominion o f regional water rights, a compact o f competitive stakeholders
(Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Mexico) eventually
reached sufficient levels of political and economic might to counter Los Angeles’
unprecedented influence on federal decision makers. With new federal legislation
moderating the distribution of water among the various water consumer states of the
American southwest and northern Mexico, Los Angeles decision-makers increased
water optimization policies to balance water consumption with urban growth.
Additionally, the shift in the political framework forced LA M Z water purveyors to
begin consideration o f increased reliance on local water resources within the Los
Angeles Basin. At the state level, protection o f groundwater reserves became a
significant undertaking. By the 1980s, discovery o f large-scale contamination within
the interconnected aquifers illuminated the need for a full-scale approach to water
quality. The present day water quality program in the LAM Z reflects a dedication
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toward dynamic solutions that will evolve with improved knowledge o f the hydrogeol
ogy in the Los Angeles Basin (the Basin).
Within the LAM Z, the historical operations of the world’s largest aerospace
infrastructure presented a significant, long-term threat to the integrity o f local
groundwater basin including (1) the San Fernando Basin, (2) the San Gabriel Basin, (3)
the Raymond Basin, (4) the Central Basin and (5) the West Basin. It became apparent
some o f the Basin aquifers were significantly contaminated with industrial chemicals
stemming from the operations of small metals based companies that blossomed in
support o f the thriving aerospace industry. The interconnection of the aquifers within
the groundwater basins and the general southwest subsurface flow posed a migration
path with the potential to spread contamination along the pathway toward the Pacific
Ocean. Faced with persistent water crisis conditions and the threat o f contamination,
the need for a full-fledged water quality approach including the institutions to protect
and preserve the local water resources became paramount.
As part of its resolution to the persistent water crisis, the LA M Z implemented a
water resource program under independent but cooperative water quality and
management institutions. These institutions incorporate local, regional, state and
federal level governments. In the LAM Z, the chief water management institutions
include the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LA DW P) and the
Metropolitan Water District (M W D ). In California, the chief water quality institution is
the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRQCB). The SWQCB established nine
regional boards and a set o f guidelines and objectives to protect and preserve the
region’s water supplies. One of the objectives is to become an international leader in
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water quality issues and methods (California State Water Resources Control Board
[SWRCB], 1995). In the LAMZ, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control
Board (LA RWQCB) is presently on the forefront of implementing the SWRCB
objectives. Due to its vanguard position, the LA RWQCB may provide a model for
water quality progress in Mexico City.
Comparing Mexico City’s water quality program which is in the initial stages of
its evolution and Los Angeles’ dynamic, well-established water quality program may be
an option for Mexico City’s water regulators and purveyors to consider as a framework
for reform. Los Angeles has already exhibited a continuum o f policies and programs
that continue to evolve with the best available information and technology. Initially,
California pursued water-use oriented policies and programs similar to Mexico. The
difference in California’s historical approach was progressive improvement that
targeted more efficient implementation of water management strategies. Water
management objectives were complemented first by conservation policies and later by
water quality initiatives that focused on water resource integrity. For example, the
SWRCB previously considered groundwater resources to be adequately protected by the
surface and subsurface soils layers until contamination was discovered in local
production wells. The SWRCB makes this point:
Ground water basins underlie half o f the State’s land areas and
supply nearly 40% o f the water Californians use. Until the late 1970’s, ground
water was considered relatively safe from pollution because people believed that
the overlying soil mantel functioned to filter out pollutants. Since then, various
pollutants have been discovered in ground water aquifers. In many cases, wells
have had to be shut down due to unacceptable concentrations of chemicals.
(California SWRCB 1995, II-1).
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Comparatively, Mexico City’s water regulators and purveyors consider the Mexico
City aquifer to be protected by the lacustrine clay layer that covers most of the Valley
floor. With better research and analysis of information pertaining to the Valley, the
experiences in the LAMZ may be identified as more similar than different. Interim
solutions and direction for Mexico City to shape its own, unique water quality program
may grow out o f the insight provided by such a comparison.
By basing changes for Mexico City on an external model, the decision-makers
in Mexico City might save time and financial resources that would be required for
research and development implementation. Owing to a number of common variables,
identification of solutions for Mexico City based upon proven solutions that have been
effective for Los Angeles would be germane. Los Angeles’ approach to water quality
and management offers a host o f specific solutions for water purveyors and regulators
in Mexico City to review. The policies and programs implemented in Los Angeles are
not necessarily a perfect match to Mexico City. However, by identifying germane
elements of the LAM Z water policies and the institutional approach to water quality and
management, water regulators and purveyors in the M C M Z may apply some of these
fundamentals to a new, unique, water quality control plan. Necessity forced the
decision-makers in Los Angeles to alter their traditional water policies much like the
necessity for change is looming over Mexico City. Identifying the signals that triggered
the Los Angeles decision-makers to alter their traditional policies is another key lesson.
In summary, both the metropolitan zones of Mexico City and Los Angeles have
met the challenges of water demand through a political culture focused upon power and
water use. Experiencing unparalleled dominion, both metropolitan zones exercised
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political and economic supremacy to expand the water budget required for the water
demands of metropolitan constituents. In the case of Los Angeles, water management
also entailed water optimization policies and practices necessary to offset the dry
climatic conditions. While water resources were abundant in relation to other
stakeholders, the respective water appropriation projects for both metropolitan zones
proceeded with limited resistance. In both cases, residents in neighboring basins were
unprepared to defend against the political power of these megacities and became
victims to the exploitation o f their water resources. However, as water became scarce
in these neighboring regions, both Mexico City and Los Angeles experienced setbacks
concerning new water appropriation projects. Mexico City has begun to experience
both political and fiscal obstacles while Los Angeles has begun to experience political
and legal obstacles. The M CM Z response to the shift remains slow. Meanwhile, the
reaction has been prompt in the LAM Z. Los Angeles began a full-scale water quality
program shaped to protect and preserve local water resources. This water quality
program is dynamically upgraded to contend with the emergence o f new contamination
threats such as the oxygenated gasoline additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).
Additionally, the water quality program complements the water management program
within a cooperative framework.
Considering that a well-established, cooperative institutional approach to water
quality and management exists in the LA M Z and the lack o f an institutional water
quality and management framework in the M CM Z, a comparative review of urban
dynamics, hydrogeology and political culture might uncover a set o f criteria and
possibly a model for Mexico City to develop its own approach. The objective of this
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research is to identify common themes and differences that might yield solutions for
Mexico City’s emerging water quality program.
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CHAPTER 1
URBAN DYNAMICS
The United Nations (U N ) recognizes the rate of urban population growth, the
size and distribution of urban populations and urban growth rates as three variables
providing indices o f urban dynamics for the world’s urban agglomerations (UN, 1995).
Their relevance to this work includes extant and projected metropolitan water demand
as well and subsequent impact on water quality within the hydrologic basins of the
M C M Z and the LAM Z. Relative to the water demands o f these megacities, urban
dynamics strain sustainability o f the respective basins.
This chapter consists o f three sections outlining and comparing the urban build
ing blocks that affect the water quality and management plans for the respective
metropolitan zones of Mexico City and Los Angeles. The first two sections address six
urban dynamics including: (1) extant population, (2) projected population, (3) spatial
boundaries, (4) migration, (5) the industrial sector and
(6) per capita water consumption. In the third section, a comparison o f the urban
dynamics between the two megacities is included to illuminate opportunities and
obstacles to a water quality plan in Mexico City.
The historical population dynamics o f both megacities offer an initial point of
comparison. Population is an important indictor of metropolitan demand. Therefore,
accurate population statistics are vital to the upgrade of current services as well as
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planning for future infrastructure and supply. Identifying the quantity and location of
the business establishments is also important to the success of water quality and
management programs. In most cities, these establishments have operated for decades
without any environmental regulations. It is only since the 1970s that the United States
o f America, one of the world’s most developed nations has begun to regulate hazardous
chemical operations and spills. Those metropolitan zones heavily reliant on local
groundwater are vulnerable and can utilize the presence of these potential sources of
contamination to target future environmental regulatory endeavors.
With the global trend toward urbanization, migration has become a major com
ponent of population change in the later half o f the twentieth century. More recently,
counter-urbanization has begun to occur indicating that the urban fringe o f megacities
will experience the majority o f the forthcoming urban growth. The United Nations
describes this trend as counter-urbanization:
The concept o f counter-urbanization was first set forth by Berry (1976). He
presented the process of counter-urbanization as a “slogan” opening the way to a
new direction for regional studies. The phenomenon first described in the
United States o f America as a turning point reached by the experience o f that
country, where counter-urbanization had replaced urbanization as the dominant
force shaping settlement patterns during the 1970s and 1980s. Later in the same
period, a similar trend was observed in other Western countries. The process of
counter-urbanization has, as its essence, decreasing size and decreasing density.
Many urban agglomerations in the more developed regions experienced the phe
nomenon of slow or negative growth o f their population during the 1970s and
1980s. (U N 1995, 8)
Identifying the quantitative and directional effects of migration provides metropolitan
policy-makers the means to prepare and implement action plans to meet increased
metropolitan water demands.
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Considering the global trend toward urbanization and counter-urbanization, it
can be assumed that the urban fringe of the world’s megacities will experience the
majority of the forthcoming urban growth. The spatial boundaries of metropolitan
zones provide a baseline for accurate population analysis that is contained within its
boundaries as well as the increased demand for associated water delivery infrastructure.
In Mexico City, the urban fringe appears to be growing based upon human migration
that has not been well demarcated to accurately measure population growth. By setting
larger metropolitan limits than currently exists, the M C M Z will have boundaries set that
allow water purveyors the opportunity to evaluate zones of deficit and plan resolutions.
Per capita water consumption provides a common measurement to analyze the
extant and projected water demand. Decision-makers utilize historical and projected
per capita water consumption to identify the capacity of the water management
network. I f per capita water consumption exceeds the capacity o f the system then water
delivery can be predicted to under-serve demand. Typically, this condition would
trigger a need to identify new water resources or programs to optimize existing
resources. Accurate per capita water consumption is crucial to planning, financing and
implementing the suite of solutions to meet future per capita demands. Even if M CM Z
water policy makers are able to adjust and offset pending increases due to improved
lifestyle, they will experience challenges from increases to the absolute consumer
demand.
Population projections are based upon assumptions that are derived from natural
change including births and deaths and from social change rates including immigration
and emigration. Projection rates can be utilized to plot the population trajectory many
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years into the future. However, the further out that the projections plot the less reliable
are the results. Therefore, population projections have their greatest validity from the 0-
5 year horizon and within the 5-10 year horizon. The 10-25 year horizon begins to
incur errors that are based in the assumed rates at the 0 year horizon. The importance o f
population projections includes the visibility o f future metropolitan demands that must
be preceded by water infrastructure, additional supplies, optimization policies and water
quality policies. Considering the LAM Z, water demand is calculated under average and
drought conditions. This added climatic variable combined with accurate population
projections is crucial to the planning, financing and implementation o f proactive
solutions to protect and purvey water supplies for the burgeoning demand. These
stringent conditions force the LA M Z to be highly efficient and proactive in water
protection and management. As the LA M Z continues to overcome these challenges, the
M C M Z may benefit from reviewing the LA M Z policy making.
The Metropolitan Zone o f Mexico City
Throughout the twentieth century, Mexico City has assumed growth patterns
and natural resource consumption rates resembling other megacities. Dense
urbanization, rampant population expansion, and concentration of nearly forty per cent
of the nation’s industry are the causal factors that led Mexico City to its current water
crisis. The manifestation o f these extreme urban dynamics undermines the integrity of
the Valley of Mexico’s natural hydrogeologic cycles. As interrelated phenomena, these
dynamics perpetuate Mexico City’s centralized model of urban growth and the former
political culture has reinforced the policies that sustain this model.
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Individually, the magnitude of each o f these dynamics strains Mexico City’s
ability to manage water quality and delivery for metropolitan consumers. The prevailing
conditions o f each dynamic might be remedied through adjusted urban policies and
programs but these adjustments may entail fiscal and political costs that exceed the will
of the political players. The cumulative pressure posed by M CM Z urban dynamics is
enforced by a political system of control that reinforces the decision-making inertia that
is rife in Mexico City. Proactive solutions to urban challenges in Mexico City are often
undermined by the prevailing political culture that includes short-term tenure for
Mexico City’s politically appointed officials.
In the arena of social demography, population records and projections are based
upon the best available data from Instituto Nacional de Estadlstica, Geografia e
Informatica (IN E G I) and Consejo Nacional de Poblacion (CONAPO). INEGI is the
Mexican Census Bureau and provides statistical population data such as the decadal
Census; CONAPO provides projection data that is prepared for the executive branch.
IN E G I’s information is based upon the results o f scheduled population counts;
CONAPO’s information makes use o f rates such as fertility and migration to determine
its projections. In general, IN E G I’s information is available to the public and is
considered to be reputable; CONAPO’s information is primarily for the executive
branch but some is made public. Both population records and projections provide
valuable parameters that Mexico City’s policy-makers must utilize to initiate proactive
urban strategies.
A long history of centralized urban growth in addition to environmental manipu
lation is ingrained in Mexico City’s urban evolution. Centralized urbanization and land
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conversion have severely altered the terrain and hydrologic cycle of the Valley leading
to negative feedback loops including flooding and diminished recharge zones that
replenish the Valley aquifers. Dense urbanization and potential contamination
associated with the industrial sector undermines the benefits of the most crucial water
resources in the MCMZ: the aquifers that reside in the hydrogeologic zones below the
sprawling city. In summary, the prevailing urban dynamics in Mexico City debase the
local hydrogeologic attributes. Furthermore, the former political culture sustains the
increased urban growth trend. These conditions are leading Mexico City toward water
crisis.
Mexico City’s rampant growth and the dearth of natural resources within the
confines of the Valley of Mexico present a growth constraint that is overcome by
consuming natural resources from the hinterland (neighboring rural regions). Mexico
City’s growing demand is quelled through policies and programs that transfer
ecological benefits such as imported water resources to the metropolitan zone and return
ecological costs such as diminished and degraded water resources to the hinterland.
Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart point out how Mexico’s prevailing development programs
are designed to extract resources from weaker neighboring states subsequently
depriving these regions of the beneficial use: “In spite of the severe environmental
problems, the Mexican model o f development has given priority to improving the
quality o f life in the larger cities (where social demand is more concentrated) rather than
in rural areas (which have become comparatively poorer)” (Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart
1996, 27). This approach to growth undermines the integrity and sustainability o f the
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hinterland and the needs o f its inhabitants. Effectively, this system generates a vicious
cycle through which larger metropolitan zones thrive at the expense of the rural zones.
Mexico City, like megacities in other developing nations, is expanding beyond
its means to support metropolitan demands. Yet, the MCMZ is unique in that sustained
transformation of the metropolitan zone over more than two millennia now critically
exceeds its management capability. “Few ecosystems in the world are so far from self-
sufficiency as is the Basin o f Mexico at present” (Ezcurra 1995, 584). This is apparent
in the acute air and water quality problems within the Valley. Mexico City’s smog
problem is infamous. Meanwhile, the insidious contamination that likely resides in the
subsurface and groundwater remains a reticent but volatile preoccupation. With regards
to water management and quality, Mexico City may be nearing a threshold close to
collapse.
Water pollution is quite possibly the most difficult ecological resource problems
for Mexico City to assess and remediate. Considering Mexico’s centralized and
bureaucratic government as well as the challenged state of the Mexican economy, the
difficult tasks o f managing and protecting water resources will require a devoted and
dedicated effort to provide and protect water for the Mexico City’s demands. Protecting
water quality and optimizing water management for roughly 17 million people and
nearly 40 per cent o f Mexico’s industry will test the will o f decision-makers to adjust
their policies and programs toward a proactive strategy that accurately accounts for
natural resource demands without exploiting the hinterland. Additionally, sustaining
centralized growth in tandem with insufficient fiscal and natural capital may become
one of the most important yet contested Mexican policy reforms. This problem is
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aggravated by metropolitan boundaries that are not clearly defined, leaving decision
makers an untenable basis to plan for metropolitan growth and concurrent consumption
demands. Despite these challenges, some degree of urban decentralization appears
necessary to correct the urban variables that contribute to Mexico City’s water crisis.
Historical Overview
Throughout five centuries of urbanization, much of the arable land and the water
table in the Valley have been disrupted and converted for agriculture and urban
development. Mexico City’s long-term centralized urbanization is founded in the
dynamics set in motion by the leadership o f the Aztec Empire. Under the continuum of
dominant civilizations, the significant role of Mexico’s political culture has continued to
encourage centralized growth. Under the auspices of the former dominant political
party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), urban centralization has been
complemented by maximized political control. From 1900-2000, the Valley
progressively changed from a self-sufficient, resource rich region to a dependent,
consumptive megacity.
Urbanization in the Basin began approximately 3000 B.C. with the initiation of
agriculture. Early settlers found that the Basin o f Mexico (the Basin) supported
agriculture and floods were rare. By the dawn of the Christian era, 3500 inhabitants
resided in the Basin. With the advent of the Aztec reign near 1325 A.D., the Basin
population amplified (Ezcurra, 1995). According to Ezcurra: “It is estimated that
during the late fifteenth century, the population of the Basin reached 1.5 million
inhabitants, distributed in more than 100 towns. At that time, the Basin o f Mexico was
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probably the largest and most densely settled urban area in the world” (Ezcurra 1995,
578). This significant fifteenth-century population is evidence of the region’s natural
affinity for urban growth.
In its natural state, the geography o f the Basin supported the growing agricul
tural demands o f the juvenile towns. Blessed with abundant water resources, the Aztec
Empire developed a successful agricultural system by levying local lakes and rivers.
The Aztec canals and chinampas (elevated gardens within the canal system) worked in
harmony with the prevailing water resources. Notably, flooding was not a chronic
problem for the Aztecs.
The arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in 1521 ushered in an era through
which Mexico City evolved into the political and economic center for the entire Spanish
territory in the mesoamericas. From the late fourteenth century to the early seventeen-
century, the Basin population declined from approximately 1.5 million to 100,000
(Ezcurra, 1995). The Spanish introduced drastic alterations to the landscape in the form
of logging and grazing animals such as horses and livestock (particularly cattle). These
practices increased erosion and flooding. The Spanish manipulations o f the surface
waters included draining the Basin lakes for agriculture and construction o f a number of
channels to overcome the increased flooding associated with their aggressive land use.
Following the independence from Spain, Mexico was governed by a succession
of presidents. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the extended dictatorship of
Porfirio Diaz ushered in the full impact of the Industrial Revolution to Mexico City.
Diaz attempted to pattern Mexican growth around a European model. The capital
emerged as the central hub for the growth and progress of Mexico. “Factories and
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railroads were built, and the City was modernized for the benefit of a small, centralist,
and very powerful bourgeoisie, whose aim was to transform the wealthier quarters of
Mexico” (Ezcurra 1995, 579). The Diaz model of centralized growth siphoned
resources from the rural poor to benefit the privileged elites and metropolitan residents.
Under the Machiavellian transformation initiated by Diaz, the campesinos (peasants
from rural regions) found the prevailing conditions in their regions difficult and the
promise of the good life in the city attractive. This initiated a momentum of migration
from the hinterland toward Mexico City. Ultimately, the Diaz regime was ousted
through a decade-long revolution. In his wake, Diaz left the growing metropolitan zone
entrenched as the stronghold of Mexico and a sink for hinterland immigration that
remains today.
Urban Growth
Mexico City’s rampant growth challenges the prevailing demarcation system for
what constitutes the M CM Z. At present, the M CM Z boundaries are ephemeral
following the expansion of the population and industry. This system does not provide a
statistical area large enough to contain the M CM Z. Therefore, population records and
projections may vary due to the spatial zones studied.
This research accepts the M C M Z definition and demarcation set forth by the
National Research Council (NRC) in Mexico City's Water Supply. Improving the
Outlook fo r Sustainability (National Resource Council [NRC], 1995).2 On the micro
scale, the Federal District is composed of sixteen delegaciones (delegations); the rest of
the M CM Z is composed of all or part of seventeen municipios (municipalities) from the
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State of Mexico. The municipios are sometimes referred to as municipios cornubados
(comubated municipios or comubations).
On the macro-scale, the M CM Z resides within two geographic zones:
(1) the Basin of Mexico resides within a larger watershed, the Valley o f Mexico (CNA
Hydrologic Region XIII), the Basin o f Mexico and (2) the portion of the Basin of
Mexico that corresponds to the M CM Z is often referred to as the Valley of Mexico (the
Valley). A comparison between the extant area o f the megacity and the geographic
zones displays the significant space for potential metropolitan growth. CNA Region
X III encompasses 16,504 km2 (Mexico Comision Nacional de Agua [CAN], 1999); the
Basin encompasses approximately 9950 km2 while the M C M Z encompasses 3773 km2.
The Federal District contributes 1504 km2 and the municipios contribute 2269 km2
(NRC, 1995). From a spatial perspective, there is a lot of land available for future
urban growth within the Basin. However, large sections of the Basin are held within
ejidos (collective farms) that are difficult to subdivide and other parts are difficult to
develop due to the presence o f steep hills and mountains. The latter are uninhabitable
and undesirable by most metropolitan residents. The steep slopes of the surrounding
volcanic mountains as well as the high hills within the Basin act as natural constraints
and reduce the arable land to approximately 3000 km2. During the twentieth century,
consumption o f the best quality lands within the M C M Z left the more marginal lands
along the steep slopes o f the volcanic ring for agriculture and future urbanization. New
arrivals to Mexico City often encounter difficulties establishing new residences and
resort to inhabiting the inclines along the steep slopes o f the numerous hills, mountains,
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and volcanoes The net effect is dense urbanization in the expanding fringe o f the
M CM Z where hillsides are consumed with new settlements.
Mexico City’s growth is similar to many of the world’s older urban centers:
the core expands its boundaries in the form o f radiating concentric rings. Incremental
population surges and expanding industrial developments provide the momentum that
extends the rings. The municipios surround the Federal District on three fronts (west,
north, and east). Furthermore, the rugged terrain o f the surrounding volcanic mountain
slopes and numerous hills within the valley limits the direction o f future expansion.
This is an important variable for projecting the spatial distribution o f population growth
in the metropolitan zone. As the boundaries o f the M CM Z continue to expand, the
probable growth pattern is into the surrounding comubations.
Additionally, Mexico City hosts nearly 40 per cent of the nation’s industry
(NRC, 1995). An analysis of the distribution o f industrial and commercial establish
ments in the M CM Z displays the spatial distribution. During the period from 1960-
1980, the concentration of industries has begun to exhibit a migratory trend toward the
municipios. (See table 1).
Table 1. Business Establishments in the M CM Z
YEAR NO. OF BUS
IN MCMZ
DELEGACIONES
(16)
DELEGACIONES
(16) a
MUNICIPIOS
(17)
MUNICIPIOS
(17)a
1960 24,624 23,577 96.0% 1,047 4.0%
1970 33.168 29,436 88.9% 3,732 11.1%
1975 34.404 29,654 65.5% 4,750 34.5%
1980 38,492 28,637 61.4% 9,855 38.6%
Taken from: Gustavo Garza. Distribution de la industria en la Ciudad de Mexico (1960-1980). In
Atlas de la Ciudad de Mexico, ed. Gustavo Garza. (Departamento del Distrito Federal y El Colegio
de Mexico, 1987), 102-107.
a Author's percentile calculations for columns 4 and 6.
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Although the bulk of these businesses reside in the delegaciones, the largest
percentage is in the northern delegaciones such as Azapotzalco, Benito Juarez,
Cuauhtemoc, Gustavo A. Madero, Venustiano Carranza while the greatest growth trend
is occurring in the municipios such as Naucalpan, Tlanepantla and Tultitlan (north of
the Federal District) and Nezahualcayotl (east o f the Federal District). An industrial
hub now exists north of the Mexico City’s center.
The dense concentration o f more than 38,492 businesses in the M C M Z (Garza,
1987) poses a potential for contamination of the Mexico City Aquifer. Operating
behind a gossamer veil of environmental rules and regulations, these businesses
discharge approximately three million tons of toxic wastes per year into the landscape
and waterways. A well-coordinated environmental quality plan enforced by an
empowered and capitalized institutions is sorely needed to address the potential sources
of contamination before leaking contamination migrates into the beneficial aquifers.
The problem is imminent in those delegaciones and municipios hosting the largest
concentration of these businesses.
Historical Population Dynamics
The current population in Mexico City is significant. According to Mexico’s
1990 Census, Mexico City reached a population of 15.1 million: the Federal District
contributed 8.3 million and the municipios contributed 6.8 million (Mexico Instituto
Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e Informatica [IN EG I], 1991). By 1995, Mexico
City’s population was 16.6 million and the national population was recorded as 91.1
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million (UN, 2000). Considering these figures, Mexico City’s population equaled 1 8
per cent of the national population.
With such a large portion of the national population, Mexico City garners con
siderable political power through representation o f this constituency. Part o f the
megacity’ s phenomenal political prowess stems from Mexico City’s the nation’s
primate city (the city with the largest per cent o f the national population]) (Jefferson,
1939; Shyrock and Sigel, 1976; Berry, 1981; Pick and Butler, 1997). According to the
Ranks o f Cities in CONAPO’s System o f Cities, Mexico City ranks first and is
considered to be a metropolitan hub that provides goods and services while influencing
the entire nation (Mexico Consejo Nacional de Poblacion [CONAPO], 1991).
Mexico’s four largest cities (Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla and Monterey)
all display elevated levels of primacy and concurrent political power in comparison to
other quarters of the nation. Prior to measurements of primacy, it is likely that Mexico
City prevailed as the nation’s uncontested primate city since its inception. Based upon
historical records, Mexico City’s has been the primate city for nearly 200 years.
“Mexico City in 1803 had a primacy index o f 2.0, meaning that it was only two times
larger than the next largest city which then was Puebla” (Garza and Schteingart 1978,
56). Throughout the nineteenth century, Mexico City’s primacy continued to increase.
Pick and Butler chronicle Mexico City’s primacy during the twentieth century:
By the end of the century Mexico City had become 3.4 times larger than the next
largest city, which was then Guadalajara. By 1950, the primacy index was 8.3.
In 1990, the primacy index had lowered to 5.4. Mexico City has thus histori
cally been a primate city in Mexico with the primacy index increasing greatly to
mid century and decreasing since then. While primacy as thus described is
measured by population size, Mexico City has also been primary in political,
economic, and communications activities as well. (Pick and Butler 1997, 55)
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This significant historical record o f primacy constitutes power and obligation:
uncontested power to shape the nation, and unrelenting obligation to meet burgeoning
demands within the metropolitan zone.
Since World War II, the population o f Mexico City has experienced substantial
growth in absolute population. One noted UN population study, World Urbanization
Prospect. The 1999 Revision reveals Mexico City’s significant surge in population.
This study includes the comubated municipios and the delegaciones (U N, 2000).
(See table 2).
Table 2. M CM Z Population Statistics (1950-95).
1950 I960 1970 1980 1990 1995
POPULATION (MILLIONS) 2.9 5.4 9.1 13.9 15.1 16.6
Source: United Nations. World urbanization prospects: The 1999 revision. Data tables
and highlights. (United Nations, 2000).
This United Nations study identifies a number o f historical growth trends in
cluding population increases: (1) between 1950-60 of 2.5 million (a 86 per cent
increase), (2) between 1960-70 o f 3.7 million (a 69 per cent increase), (3) between
1970-80 of 4.8 million (a 53 per cent increase), (4) between 1980-90 o f 1.2 million (a 9
per cent increase), (5) between 1990-95 o f 1.5 million (a 10 per cent increase) and (6)
the projected population between 1995-2000 was predicted to increase by 1.5 million (a
9 per cent increase) (See table 2). These results indicate that the absolute population
growth peaked in the 1970s has been slowing to more geometric trends (slow growth).
Although the population trends o f the latter part of the twentieth century indicate a
declining growth rate, the new additions still contribute large inputs to the population
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within the confined metropolitan zone. Evaluating the population statistics that are the
sum o f the inputs (births and immigration) and outputs (deaths and emigration), it is
apparent that Mexico City’s population is still growing but at a much slower rate
(Mexico IN EG I, 1990). During the 1980s, the annual growth rate for the Federal
District was negative (-0.1) (indicating a loss o f population) while the annual growth
rate for the State of Mexico was 4.64 (indicating 46 additions per thousand persons)
(Mexico IN EG I, 1994). Based upon these data, the Federal District progressively
accounts for less o f the overall metropolitan population relative to the comubations:
growth in the municipios progressively contributes the majority of the overall growth in
the megacity. Between 1970-90, Mexico City’s calculated cumulative average annual
rate o f change is 2.56 (indicating 25 additions per thousand persons) (U N, 1995).
These rates are important indicators of the contributions to Mexico City’s popu
lation that provide insight into urban planning. For example, even a condition where
the population equation exhibits a zero growth rate, (inputs equal the outputs), the
prevailing population requires resource delivery on a scale that exceeds the Valley’s
internal resource availability. Satisfying the demands o f the capital are imminent goals
for high-ranking officials in the M CM Z. The growth rates provide a means to quantify
the financial resources required to meet demand. This condition challenges Mexico
City’s politicians and public officials.
Migration Trends
A large source of the phenomenal surge in population stems from immigration.
Immigration places a dual stress on the burgeoning population momentum. Immigration
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incorporates the immediate additions to the megacity's population numbers, but it also
introduces a large group of newcomers of reproductive age that will likely give birth
thereby contributing to the natural rate of intrinsic growth as well. As many of these
migrants are from the rural regions, cultural values continue to be significant indicators
o f their behavior. They tend to follow traditional patterns of developing nations: these
people believe in large families. Therefore, it is likely that sustained migration and the
reproductive patterns introduced by many o f these migrants will contribute large
additions to the absolute population growth in Mexico City.
Migration also adds a determining variable to the spatial variation o f future ur
ban development. Due to its motility, migration shapes the direction o f future
metropolitan urbanization. The major immigration flow is toward the municipios in the
State of Mexico rather than the Federal District (Pick and Butler, 1997). In the Atlas de
la Ciudad de Mexico, Negrete and Salazar display the natural rate o f growth and the
social rate of growth for 1950-1980 (Negrete and Salazar, 1987). The first provides
data relevant to births and deaths while the latter provides data relevant to immigration
and emigration. These data continue to support the important role o f migration in the
M CM Z. (See table 3).
Table 3. Natural and Social Growth Rates in the M CM Z.
NATURAL NATURAL NATURAL SOCIAL SOCIAL SOCIAL
DECADE 1950-60 1960-70 1970-80 1950-60 1960-70 1970-80
DELEGACION (16) 3.18 3.21 2.95 1.43 0.23 -0.72
MUNICIPIOS (19) 3.02 2.96 3.00 4.25 8.84 5.13
Taken from: Maria Eugenia Negrete and Hector Salazar. Dinamica de crecimiento de la
poblacion de la Ciudad de Mexico (1900-1980). In A tlas de la Ciudad de Mexico, ed.
Gustavo Garza (Departamento del Distrito Federal y El Colegio de M&rico, 1987), 127.
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These rates are important determinants for population projections and urban
expansion as they highlight specific patterns that can be useful to metropolitan planners
and public officials. This is a crucial point as migrants are settling in the fringe of the
M CM Z where public services are deficient in relation to the inner core. Plans for new
piping, pumping stations and expanded coverage by regulatory agencies will need to be
initiated as water consumption grows in this part of the M CM Z. Even as the migration
rate has begun to diminish, the absolute population growth remains significant (Pick
and Bulter, 1997).
Although the prevailing migration statistics are based upon large statistical areas
such as the state level or the Federal District level, the information garnered in the
Census records provides valuable insight concerning the population trends in the
MCM Z. The figures tallied in ESEEGFs Estadisticas Historicas de Mexico, Vol. 1994
include the cumulative immigration and emigration data for all sixteen delegaciones
and similar data for all one hundred municipios in the State o f Mexico (Mexico IN EG I,
1994). Although the level of accuracy is somewhat mired by the cumulative effect of
all the municipios, the data presented are useful to interpret trends.
Migration statistics at the smaller statistical area such as individual delegacion
and municipio level that would provide more accurate, area-specific data are on the
horizon. The utility o f migration statistics at the smaller statistical area will provide
insight into the municipios experiencing the greatest growth. This knowledge will
provide urban planners and decision-makers a means to measure and meet the
expanding service and resource demands. Meanwhile, the larger statistical area o f the
Federal District provides accurate insight into the migration trends that indicate a
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greater emigration than immigration in the delegaciones. The municipios are absorbing
much of this emigration from the delegaciones as well as other parts o f the country. For
example, during the period from 1980-90, the Federal District exhibited a negative
migration equal to approximately 1.2 million. During the same period, the 100
municipios in the State of Mexico exhibited increased immigration o f 3 .3 million
(Mexico IN EG I, 1994). Based upon these records, combined immigration into the
Federal District and the State o f Mexico is 2.1 million. (See table 4). These trends can
be assumed to be relevant as indicators o f comubation migratory growth trends. Based
upon IN EG I for 1950-90 statistics, it appears that the maximum number of migrants per
year and total migrants for the decade occurred during the 1970s. Since that point in
time, the contributions to population continue to be large but are ameliorating.
Comparing the absolute migration within the total M C M Z for the 1970s (2.9 million) to
the 1980s (2.1 million), this trend appears to be valid. (See table 4).
Table 4. Migration Statistics for the Greater M CM Z.
YEARS TOTAL MCMZ
MIGRATIONa
AVG ANNUAL
MIGRATION
DF
MIGRATION
EDO MX
MIGRATION b
1950-90 6,600,000 165,000 -50,000 6,650,000
1950-80 4,500,000 150,000 1,150,000 3,350,000
1950-70 1,600,000 80,000 450,000 1,150,000
1940-50 200,000 20,000 250,000 -50,000
1950-60 350,000 35,000 300,000 50,000
1960-70 1,250,000 125,000 150,000 1,100,000
1970-80 2,900,000 290,000 700,000 2,200,000
1980-90 2,100,000 210,000 -1,200,000 3,300,000
Source: Mexico INEGI. Estadisticas historicas de Mexico. Vol. I. (Institute Nacional de
Estadistica, Geografia e Informatica, 1994).
Total MCMZ in this study is equivalent to the Federal District (16 delegaciones) [DF] and
the Edo MX (State of Mexico) (100 municipios).
b F.do MX (State of Mexico) Migration in this study is equivalent to 100 municipios.
Note: Author’s calculations for MCMZ migration totals and average annual migration
in columns 2 and 3 and for period totals in rows 2, 3 and 4.
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Comparing the number o f migrants for the respective decadal periods from
1950-90, it is possible to derive that the immigration trend was maximized percentage
wise during the period 1960s, a 1.25 million immigration increase yielded a 257 per
cent increase. (See table 4). Meanwhile, with respect to absolute figures, immigration
reached its apex during the period 1970s with a 2.9 million immigration increase, a 132
per cent increase. Considering these figures, the M CM Z and surrounding municipios
attracted close to 290,000 migrants per year during the 1970s; far exceeding the
estimated average o f 35,000 migrants per year during the 1950s and estimated average
o f 125,000 migrants per year during the 1960s. With the advent o f the 1980s, this trend
reversed, but the absolute migration contributions continue to inflate the population of
the sprawling metropolitan zone. “In summary, migration has been a huge component
o f growth and change in Mexico City in the second half of the century. Although it
lowered in recent decades, it remains a large force” (Pick and Butler 1997, 117).
In the M CM Z, the advantages and services offered by the public institutions and
agencies as well as the jobs offered by approximately 40 per cent o f the nation’s
business attract migrants away from the hardship and inequitable the benefit distribution
to the rural regions. On the positive side, the migratory trend is rooted in a number of
social variables such as the beliefs and attitudes of the migrants who idealize city life
with the good life. “Households that are drawn to or desire to remain in Mexico City
are strongly influenced by numerous social, political, educational and cultural factors,
and they often equate living in Mexico City with the image of personal success” (U N
1991, 32). On the negative side, the hardship experienced in the hinterland forces many
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to migrate toward the megacity. The skewed conditions between the share o f benefits in
the metropolitan zone and the hinterland largely accounts for the migratory flow toward
the megacity that persists today. Despite policies such as the Green Revolution
instituted to aid Mexican farmers throughout the nation, Mexico City has continued to
benefit while costs have been incurred by the hinterland. Persistent hardship in the
hinterland pressures more and more campesinos to abandon their traditional livelihoods
such as farming and fishing; ultimately, the M C M Z absorbs most o f these additions.
Today, the Federal District remains more populated than the municipios. How
ever, the core o f the city is densely urbanized and cannot sustain continued growth so
that today the most pronounced growth trends are occurring in the surrounding
municipios. According to Pick and Butler, migration patterns support this trend: “In
the late 80s inmigration to the Megacity was concentrated in State o f Mexico
municipios surrounding the Federal District, with especially high inmigration into the
growing industrial zone north o f the Federal District” (Pick and Butler 1997, 116).
Counter-urbanization (UN, 1995) is now apparent in the Federal District and the
municipios are growing with inputs from the Federal District and the hinterland.
Population Growth Projections
With such a large population, accurate projections of Mexico City’s population
statistics are an important indicator to projecting water consumption and the need for
new infrastructure. A key variable that mires the reliability of metropolitan population
projections involves the availability o f qualified data. CONAPO’s mission to provide
projecting data to the executive branch overrides the public interest, therefore, much of
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the data it generates are not publicly available. This makes it difficult to challenge or
assume confidence in the rates that serve as the basis for CONAPO projections.
Another problem with projecting accuracy is that the spatial boundaries for
Mexico City are not adequately defined. This is partially due to the variability in the
assumed demarcation and definition o f the metropolitan zone. Some statistics include
all the municipios of the State of Mexico while others include a smaller representation
of the municipios. The UN has highlighted this point about Mexico City and other
cities:
Undertaking research on urbanization in the world, and, in particular, the less
developed regions, presents major challenges. Although virtually all countries
distinguish between their urban and rural populations and many make data
available by size of urban place, the definition o f what constitutes an urban place
and an urban population varies both over time in a country and at the same time
among countries. Despite the recommendations of the International Conference
on Population at Mexico City in 1984, which recognized that the collection and
dissemination o f statistics on population distribution must be advanced, includ
ing the development o f concepts and methods, little improvement in this area
has been observed during the past decade. Nonetheless, the United Nations
makes the best use of the newly available information to revise the estimates and
projections of urban and rural populations in the world, the regions and major
areas. (U N 1995, 20)
Mexico City’s rapid growth into the municipios reflects the UN point and the need for
an absolute definition for what constitutes the urban population o f the M CM Z. It is
important for Mexico City’s ability to project accurate future resource demands and
metropolitan services to ensure that a standardized definition o f the metropolitan zone is
established, accepted and applied to population statistics. This will provide demogra
phers a more stable set of boundaries to derive accurate population rates and
projections. Additionally, policy makers might better utilize projections based upon an
absolute definition. The efficacy o f proactive urban planning and policymaking would
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likely increase in proportion to the availability of qualified and area-specific population
projections.
UN populations projections published in 2000 indicate that the year 2005 popu
lation for Mexico City will climb to 18.5 million, nearly 17 per cent of the entire nation
(102.4 million) will reside in Mexico City (UN, 2000).
Mexico City’s average annual rate of change in population for three five-year
projections between (2000-2015) displays that the rate of change has moderated. These
three periods are enumerated as follows: (1) from 2000-05, the average annual rate of
change for Mexico City is 0.35 (indicating 3 additions per thousand persons), (2) from
2005-10, the rate is 0.25 (indicating 2 additions per thousand persons), and (3) from
2010-15, the rate is 0.53 (indicting 5 additions per thousand persons). Comparing these
projection rates to the most recent statistics for 1995-2000 that exhibited a 1.81 rate (18
additions per thousand persons), the five-year projections are 71-86 per cent lower.
This indicates that although the population may continue to grow it will become
less pronounced in terms of absolute population statistics. The U N calculations for
these average annual rates of change in population are based upon statistics taken from
IN E G I’s census records. Despite the reliability o f IN E G I’s records, these rates may be
over-optimistic. The poorly defined demarcations of the M C M Z further underscore this
point. An excerpt from the 1991 U N study devoted to Mexico City (UN, 1991) aptly
displays this trend:
Although officials at the National Statistical Institute and at the Ministry of Pro
grammes and Budgeting (SPP) have long been aware o f the need to construct a
data base for the metropolitan zone and the central region, data for the Federal
District and for the 17 municipalities in the State o f Mexico that constitute part
of Mexico City remain disaggregated. (U N 1991, 8)
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Considering Mexico City’s elevated population, coordination and availability of
population data are crucial to the megacity's ability to structure long-term, proactive
policies and programs. Although the level of accuracy may be questionable, the
available data indicate an improved outlook with regards to projected population
growth. Despite this apparent relief, the present population and improved standard of
living translate into severe challenges to meet metropolitan demand. This is of
paramount significance with regards to water resources. “It is often generally assumed,
somewhat erroneously, that the increase in global water use has paralleled population
growth” (Biswas 1997, 4). Holding all water optimization variables equal, water
consumption per capita typically follows a trend that increases with new additions and
improved lifestyles.
Metropolitan Resource Consumption
The Basin in its natural state was resource rich and sustainable relative to the
impacts o f early civilizations. Harnessing the potential of the Valley, the first settlers
established a system o f elevated fields and canals that effectively recycled nutrients and
irrigated crops for the expanding population. Throughout the history o f the capital,
political leadership and elites have exercised their position o f influence to ensure the
success o f the city. Although ample resources were at one point readily available in the
Valley, even the Aztecs extracted resources from remote regions as tribute. This was
the first incident of external support for the Basin inhabitants; increased external
reliance followed as the Basin population grew beyond its natural limits. Throughout
most of the twentieth century, the trend of urban migration has followed a similar
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pattern to the flow of resources extracted from the hinterland Today the resources
within the Basin cannot support the prevailing demands; fulfillment o f many megacity
amenities and demands is accomplished through resource extraction from the
hinterland.
In response to the absolute and projected metropolitan growth o f the twentieth
century, aggressive policies were initiated to secure access to natural capital and to
generate the fiscal resources that sustain Mexico City’s prominence and consumption
demands. This approach to growth resulted in extracting natural resources from the
weaker regions in the hinterland that subsequently undermines the sustainability of
these resource rich regions.
To sustain resource flows from neighboring rural regions, urban policy-makers
and politicians wield prominent influence on programs and policies that skew the
distribution o f the tangible benefits toward the megacity. For examples, with
approximately 22 per cent of the Mexico’s population in the 1970s, the M CM Z
consumed roughly 27 per cent o f the nation’s oil resources and 30 per cent of the
nations electricity yielding pronounced environmental pollution and reliance on the
more remote regions of the country for energy resources (Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiart,
1996). As the population o f Mexico City continues to grow, the remote regions of the
country are exploited to provide the resources to meet metropolitan demand. A review
of water usage illuminates this trend. “Values for average per capita water use as
reported by the Federal District and the State of Mexico are 364 and 230 liters per day
respectively” (NRC 1995, 20). As the municipios in the metropolitan zone expand and
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lifestyles improve, per capita water consumption presumably will increase in proportion
to these dual stresses. Biswas describes this trend:
While water planners have generally attributed higher water requirements in the
future to increasing population numbers, another associated issue has been
mostly ignored. This is the established fact that as the standard o f living in
creases, lifestyles of people change thus increasing per capita water requirement.
(Biswas 1997, 8)
Based upon this line of thinking, the M C M Z’s cumulative resource demands might be
expected to continue to grow even under zero growth.
Reviewing the capacity o f the interconnected hydrogeologic systems within the
Basin o f Mexico, it is apparent that the hydrologic cycle is severely altered by urban
development. Drainage of the major lake system, confinement o f natural waterways into
concrete channels, construction o f buildings, roads and parking lots that cover open
space with concrete and pavement drastically alter the natural interaction between the
hydrologic and geologic cycles. With increased urbanization, the flow o f water that
normally would seep into the subsurface via recharge zones or collect in natural
reservoirs such as lakes is now disrupted and funneled out o f the Valley through man-
made channels and underground canals. Effectively, this water and its potential to
replenish the Valley’s local water supplies are lost. Meanwhile, sufficient potable water
requirements are increasingly met by mining water from the Valley aquifers and the
hinterland.
The Lerma River water appropriation project, for example, was pursued with the
intent to end Mexico City’s water shortages. “The public was assured that the new
system would end Mexico City’s water problems forever” (Simon 1997, 70). Yet, the
ecological cost was the lakes o f the Almoloya del Rio region. The water levels of these
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lakes diminished and some o f the lakebeds are now used for sewage and runoff
disposal. Additionally, the Almoloya del Rio lost much of its value to the fishing trade
and potential as a sustainable water reservoir. Meanwhile, this project initially provided
1600 gallons per second but later yielded only 1000 gallons per second, a loss of 38 per
cent (Simon, 1997). Implementation of this type of shortsighted, reactive strategy is
motivated by political motives that maintain the supremacy to satisfy the megacity
demand first. Mexico City’s demands are satisfied first. This approach has led to
severe ecological disruption in the Valley and the hinterland. Unfortunately, there is a
historical precedent of such ecological destruction that has not lessened. This historical
abuse may undermine the reliance on new water import projects. When policy makers
and politicians in Mexico City encounter barriers to implement new water import
projects, the crucial significance of the Valley aquifers will become paramount. A
planned, proactive strategy to sustain the aquifers is preferred to reactive strategies.
Yet, Mexico City’s former political polices have not initiated the necessary reform.
It appears that the impact o f elevated fiscal costs associated with large-scale
water appropriation plans may be the bane o f future import projects. In fact, the
economic outlook for new water appropriation projects appears bleak because:
(1) the Mexican economy is severely strained, and (2) traditional funding sources for
water appropriation projects are displaying reservations toward providing investment
capital. Due to the international awareness o f the ecological destruction associated with
prior water appropriation projects throughout the world, international financing
organizations are beginning to give increased recognition to the environmental impacts
of the projects that they fund. Biswas clarifies the relevance of this adopted position:
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Major international funding organizations such as the World Bank are currently
under considerable political pressure from a few of their major donors not to
support large-scale water-development projects in different parts of the world.
The very noticeable decline in the donors’ interest in providing invest
ment funds for major water-development projects in developing countries and
the high capital requirements for new projects, mean that there may be signifi
cant delay in the implementation timetable of future projects. (Biswas 1997, 14)
Without the borrowed funds to realize the next set o f water import projects, the
decision-makers in institutions and agencies such as the Comision Nacional de Agua
that manage national water resource delivery in Mexico will have to alter their
strategies to obtain sufficient water for the projected growth and subsequent increase in
water demands. Without significant adjustments, reactive strategies to protect these
aquifers will likely ensue.
Within the Valley, the unbalanced condition of urban growth within the context
o f dwindling and degraded natural resources influences metropolitan decision-makers to
pursue large-scale, reactive resource appropriation projects to fulfill urban demands.
Decision-making to satisfy burgeoning metropolitan water consumption demands is
often accomplished by muddling through one crisis after another. This translates into
poorly planned water appropriation projects that garner political clout but further
aggravate the existing crisis by forestalling acceptance of difficult, proactive decisions
such as: (1) setting limits to growth in the metropolitan zone, (2) enacting urban
decentralization policies such as tax incentives for businesses and families to move out
of the M CM Z, (3) reducing water pricing subsidies, (4) encouraging water recycling
and re-use, and (5) instituting a water quality program that protects and preserves the
sustainability of the Valley groundwater resources for future generations.
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The emphasis on short-term crisis resolution disregards proactive long-term
strategies that may improve the prospect for sustainable resources. Long-term, proactive
solutions to the pending water crisis are ignored by politicians and policy makers of the
prevailing political culture. The PRI tends to favor large-scale projects that yield
tangible political value. “Enormous public works were always favored over conserva
tion because they strengthened the power of the central government and became a
source o f national pride” (Simon 1997, 73). Alternatives include a water quality
program with the potential to protect and preserve the quality of the Valley aquifers or
encourage water recycling. These alternatives and other sensible alternatives could
reasonably increase water resources within the Valley to meet the projected growth in
water consumption while simultaneously disengaging the bureaucratic myopia that
defers to large-scale water import projects. Furthermore, new resources are located
farther and farther from the M C M Z raising the appropriation costs. This fiscal burden
will likely grow in proportion to the increasing distance and will progressively play a
more definitive role in decision-making concerning water policies and projects.
Concluding Remarks
In 1995, Mexico City was ranked as the second largest city in the world with a
population of 16.6 million (UN, 2000). Based upon population rates, it appears that
Mexico City will continue to grow but at a slower rate than the exponential trends
following World War II (UN, 2000). Accompanied with Mexico City’s size is the
extreme concentration of its population and industrial establishment within a confined
spatial zone (3773 km2 ). Land conversion for residential, agricultural, commercial and
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industrial consumers is drastically impacting the Valley o f Mexico by increasing
erosion and floods while subsequently reducing recharge into the aquifers. Mexico City
persists as the primate city in Mexico in both population and industry. The concurrent
demands and impacts o f domestic and industrial water consumption on the Valley’s
hydrogeologic systems have undermined the stability and integrity o f local resources.
In fact, water demand bypassed the Valley’s sustainable limits stating the 1960s
resulting in the implementation o f programs to appropriate external water resources.
Moreover, the political culture plays a paramount role in promoting the growth o f
domestic and industrial water consumers by subsidizing municipal services and water
pricing. Additionally, Mexico City’s policy makers and politicians cater to the business
community in exchange for political support.
The cumulative result of Mexico City’s centralized growth model has been in
creased migration from the hinterland and a pro-business environment that could
undermine the efficacy of the fledgling environmental quality program in Mexico City.
The industrial sector introduces a water quality and quantity threat to the Valley’s
hydrogeologic systems. The integrity o f the Valley’s local water resource is a
paramount concern with such a large industrial belt operating under Iaissez fair
conditions. Operating under a veil o f regulatory guidelines and enforcement, the
presence of 38,492 business establishments in 1980 (Garza, 1987), is a significant
potential source of contamination to the Valley groundwater resources. Meanwhile,
groundwater is the most important water resource in the Valley and provides
approximately 70 per cent o f the metropolitan water supplies (NRC, 1995).
Considering that the Valley’s local water resources are estimated to provide sustainable
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support for no more than 8.5 million (Ramirez, 1990), the prevailing groundwater
production is supplying enough water for 11.6 million. These groundwater production
rates generate unsustainable, overdraft conditions.
In summary, the political culture has cultivated a large population and industrial
center that place pressure on both water quantity and quality. Unraveling this dilemma
will require policy makers and politicians to reconsider both the urban dynamic and
hydrogeologic challenges and reform water policies. The concern is that the political
culture will need to loosen its control to allow water officials and free enterprise the
latitude to make the adjustments.
The Metropolitan Zone o f Los Angeles
The United States Bureau o f the Census (USBC) demarcation for the Los Ange
les Urbanized Area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties. This is also the
definition that the UN utilizes for Los Angeles. For the purpose o f this research, the
USBC definition and demarcations for the Los Angeles Urbanized Area is accepted as
equivalent to the LA M Z.3 By accepting this larger statistical area, the UN provides
standardized limits for the growing metropolitan boundaries that will have long-term
significance and applicability as an accurate baseline for population projections.
Los Angeles began as a pueblo (town) deprived of sufficient local natural re
sources to support large-scale growth. In its original state, Los Angeles lacked the
necessary resources to support a city with metropolitan demands o f a large population
and a booming economy based upon manufacturing. Additionally, it was located
approximately 2500 miles from Washington D C , the federal capital and was not
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nurtured on federal subsidies and projects during its early growth phases. However,
Los Angeles’ nineteenth-century city founders overcame these and other obstacles to
assemble the elements of the lliture megacity. In summary, the city fended for itself and
was not a magnet for natural growth and development began with internal funding.
Starting with the American dominion in 1847, an infusion o f external resources
provided the initial momentum for urban growth. Nineteenth-century city founders
who were determined to expand the city prepared the desolate Basin with the elements
for urban growth. Most importantly, Los Angeles overcame the Basin’s naturally
limited local water budget. During all phases of Los Angeles’ nineteenth and twentieth-
century development, the water budget emerges as the common limiting variable.
Overcoming the Basin’s limited water budget opened the door for metropolitan growth.
Linked to legal and political control over a vast network o f water resources, the model
for Los Angeles’ phenomenal urban growth is tied to development plans that succeeded
because external water resources were appropriated to fulfill prevailing and projected
metropolitan development.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the city founders exhibited a tenacious will
to expand the city that ultimately yielded the foundation for Los Angeles’ meteoric rise.
Although Los Angeles did not prominently factor into the mainstream of America’s
nineteenth-century plans for “Manifest Destiny”, Los Angeles was positioned to
capitalize and expand with America’s twentieth-century global military era spanning
from World War I through the Cold War. From the 1920s-1980s, Los Angeles evolved
into a thriving militaiy-industrial complex and a recognized mecca innovating high-
technology in sectors such as aerospace.
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At the inception of the twenty-first century, the LAMZ hosts approximately 13
million residents (UN, 2000) and a thriving economy nearly 24,000 business
establishments including industrial and high-technology enterprises. Twentieth-century
urban growth occurred in spurts yet the projected population will be slow, more typical
of geometric rate (UN, 2000). Despite ameliorated projections, the inputs of births and
immigration remain significant relative to Los Angeles’ hydrogeologic attributes.
Considering the frequent drought conditions and that each person added to the
population increases the per capita water consumption by an individual unit of
approximately three fold (Frederiksen, 1997), a chief concern is that the population of
the LA M Z is inelastic in relation to Los Angeles Basin’s extant water budget and court-
ordered reductions to external water supplies.
Historical Overview
Dating back to the 1600s, Los Angeles is referred to as a pueblo under the Span
ish dominion. The Spanish and Mexican governments generally ignored the pueblo.
From 1847-1913, too many obstacles and too few resources stymied the realization of
Los Angeles’ metropolitan development. In particular, scarce local water supplies, and
frequent drought conditions jeopardized the long-term interest in developing the semi-
arid pueblo into a large city. The City o f Los Angeles struggled to reach a population of
100,000 by 1900 and industrial enterprises remained wary to migrate to Los Angeles
until around the 1920s. The momentum for development ensued only after the city
founders first labored to assemble the building blocks for a metropolitan zone including:
a sheltered seaport, a direct rail link to the east, cheap power, a docile labor force for
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manufacturing production, and water, the coalescing component. Whereas other cities
germinated natural momentum initiating metropolitan growth, Los Angeles did not
provide natural elements for growth.
During the period from 1847-1900, development was the goal o f city founders.
However, the initial growth plans were not based upon a defined general plan. Urban
growth was somewhat erratic and required a large vested interest on the part o f the civic
leaders and elites who generated interest and subsequent migration to the LAM Z. For
example, through propaganda and reduced rail fares, mid-western migrants were
encouraged to move westward to Los Angeles. Once they arrived, there was no city,
scant employment opportunities and natural resources were insufficient for large-scale
growth (Blomquist, 1992; Abu-Lughod, 1999). Incrementally, the resourceful city
founders managed to overcome each impediment to their metropolitan development
plans.
In a number o f cases, city founders utilized extreme measures and tactics to en
sure the City’s growth. For example, the removal of the original Spanish and Mexican
land owners to clear the way for “Anglo” migrants (Abu-Lughod, 1999) and the shrewd
purchase of land tracts in the Owens Valley to legalize the appropriation of the Owens
Valley and Mono Lake water resources (Reisner, 1986; Hundley, 1992). The
appropriated water from the watershed provided the necessary variable to begin an era
of development. By the 1920s, the development strategies o f the elites assembled the
building blocks for the foundation of the future megacity.
One of the outcomes of this period includes extensive annexations within Los
Angeles County. The City of Los Angeles annexation-induced growth contrasts with
m*,t
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more traditional metropolitan growth models that expand from a central place in the
form of concentric rings. The impact o f this era is inherent within the City that exhibits
an asymmetrical growth pattern. Owing to the City of Los Angeles’ mutable
boundaries throughout its twentieth-century development, it is a preferred practice to
consider the population of Los Angeles and Orange Counties that retained stable
boundary limits in lieu of the City of Los Angeles’ erratic population and boundary
changes (Abu-Lughod, 1999).
In general, the LAM Z has sustained its phenomenal urban development by ex
panding unprecedented influence over external water resources. To achieve this control,
elites and political leadership utilized legal and political tools to establish an
advantageous position in western water rights. The LA M Z arose to a position of
uncontested supremacy garnering favorable water rights that enabled the ensuing
development. Yet, the momentum began to change in the 1960s. The findings of the
1963 United States Supreme Court case, Arizona vs. California challenged the legal
status quo that favored the LA M Z dominion over a vast network o f external water
resources from outside the political jurisdiction o f the state. Based upon Arizona vs.
California, the LA M Z and most o f southern California will be affected by the Colorado
River Aqueduct (CRA) reductions of 662,000 acre feet per year (Hundley, 1992). By
the 1970s, similar legal challenges emerged to the LAM Z dominion o f state water
supplies. In the Owens Valley, interest groups challenged the City of Los Angeles’
withdrawal rights. Progressively, these legal challenges signaled that a shift against the
LAM Z water network was underway. Furthermore, the Bureau of Reclamation is not
approving any more large-scale water projects such as dams or aqueducts. Without
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approvals from the Bureau o f Reclamation, new water projects will not be an option for
expanding the LAM Z water budget.
The combined impact o f reductions to the extant water network and the con
straints on expansion of water appropriation projects clash with the growing demand of
the projected population growth. Even as the population statistics appear to be on a
manageable growth trend, water scarcity may once again arise to challenge the LAMZ.
Based upon prevailing water resources, the projected growth may be considered
excessive if the water resources are diminished as scheduled and alternative sources are
not identified and implemented. Without adjustments, water demand will increase
while the water budget will be reduced.
Urban Development
On the macro-scale, the LA M Z resides within the state of California that is sub
divided into 58 counties. Furthermore, the LA M Z resides within a larger statistical
area, the Los Angeles Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (LA CMSA) totaling
approximately 35,318 mi2 and a hydrologic region: The South Coast Hydrologic
Region. The LA CMSA is composed o f five counties including Los Angeles, Orange,
Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside. Considering the geographic boundaries in the
vicinity of the LAM Z, there are three major groundwater basins. Aside from the
mountain zones and scattered highland areas within the valleys and coastal plains, the
LAMZ is relatively flat. In general, the terrain is suitable for urban development which
is pronounced in Los Angeles County. The current direction o f urban growth is
expressed as counter-urbanization (UN, 1995) from Los Angeles County. In comparing
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the overall dimension of the megacity to all five counties o f the LA CMSA, it is
apparent that space for future expansion exists outside the confines o f Los Angeles
County. This is apparent in the prevailing and projected population growth rates of the
other LA CMSA counties that exceed population growth rates within Los Angeles
County (UN, 1995).
On the micro-scale, the LA M Z is made up of 5700 mi2 of which Los Angeles
County encompasses 4752 mi2 and Orange County encompasses 948 mi2 (Department
of Finance, 1996). The City of Los Angeles resides entirely within the limits of Los
Angeles County, totaling approximately 470 mi2 (Hundley, 1992) and is made up of 15
wards within the city (Abu-Lughod, 1999). Los Angeles County is composed of 82
cities and Orange County is composed o f 30 cities.
The City of Los Angeles began in 1781 with a Spanish land grant of a 28 mi2
that is presently occupied by the modem day downtown district. With the advent of
American dominion around 1847, the City grew to approximately 43 mi2. Little spatial
growth occurred until approximately 1906. After the Los Angeles Aqueduct (LAA)
was made public in 1905, the pending availability of excess water initiated a series of
annexations o f local towns.
From 1906-1930, seventy-three separate annexations expanded the city limits
from 43 mi2 to 442 mi2. To the annexed towns, the security of cheap and reliable water
access in the semi-arid Basin provided the incentive for approval. The most vital o f the
annexations included; (1) the 1906 “Shoestring addition” that encompassed the San
Pedro Port and its revenues, and (2) the 1913 San Fernando Valley addition that
flourished as an agricultural belt once Owens Valley water was made available.
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Beginning around 1960, Los Angeles experienced a number of deannexations
after the 1958 “Lakewood option” introduced the opportunity for local towns to contract
for water and other municipal services from the City without surrendering their
identities. After 1958, the twin mechanism o f annexation and deannexation provided
growth inputs and outputs to the City of Los Angeles. The net effect is a city with an
unusual shape: asymmetry and discontinuity best describe the City o f Los Angeles
(Abu-Lughod, 1999).
Unlike other cities that grow from a focal point, Los Angeles resembles a grow
ing cell that consumed communities within the boundaries of Los Angeles County. It is
possible to identify the patterns o f this growth by viewing the City o f Los Angeles on a
map: the jurisdictions display the finality o f a contrived effort ossified into the City’s
peculiar shape. The changing boundaries undermined the significance o f the City’s
population statistics. Subsequently, the population o f the City o f Los Angeles
fluctuated based upon annexation and deannexation as well as inputs and outputs based
upon births, deaths and migration.
In summary, the City o f Los Angeles’ boundaries were mutable throughout the
twentieth century but the county boundaries that encompass the entire city remained
stable. Therefore, the larger LA M Z based upon the boundaries o f both Los Angeles
and Orange County provides a more stable statistical area for population research and
the baseline for evaluating the twentieth-century population fluctuations of the City of
Los Angeles within the context o f the LAM Z.
Following nineteenth-century promotional efforts to increase the population,
city founders began to approach entrepreneurs and prominent figures within the
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business community for the purpose o f attracting them to Los Angeles. The city
founders and politicians propelled the City forward by securing a number of
metropolitan building blocks including an “open shop” (Davis, 1990; Abu-Lughod,
1999) approach to labor that paved the way for the projected economic growth. From
1847-1900, the LAM Z attracted interest as a potential naval port for the expansion of
the American navy. The fledgling metropolitan zone competed with San Diego and
Santa Monica to ensure that the new naval port would operate out o f San Pedro. Even
after city boosters secured the national interest and funding for the port in San Pedro,
the port itself did not promote significant industrial and commercial activity (Abu-
Lughod, 1999).
Another project o f significance involved the expansion of the Southern Pacific
Railroad. Prior to this direct rail line, the LA M Z was subject to the commercial
oversight of San Francisco through the only prevailing railroad connection to the east.
The railroad provided an effective mechanism to promote migration to the LAM Z.
Despite the significance of these transportation projects, the port and railroad did not
unilaterally promote economic growth. Most importantly, industrial enterprises did not
migrate to the LAM Z until the elements for a vibrant economy were in place and water
access was secured with the LA A in 1913.
Surges in industrial growth emerged as the LA M Z attracted a number of military
contracts of national significance. The “open shop” approach to labor and the
availability of cheap energy in the form of oil and hydro-electric power from the Owens
Valley provided signals to the business community that the LAM Z was emerging as a
business zone. Additionally, agricultural growth blossomed with the addition o f the San
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Fernando annexation activating economic interest in the LAM Z (Abu-Lughod, 1999).
Despite the momentum, the LAM Z experienced limited success at attracting industries
through the end o f the nineteenth century.
From 1900-1920s, the LAM Z still failed to attract national and military con
tracts. The local industries at this point were primarily oil production and the movies
(Abu-Lughod, 1999). However, city founders such as Harry Chandler, the owner of the
Los Angeles Times to convince a number o f promising entrepreneurs to relocate to the
LAM Z. Ann Markusen describes the level of elite involvement: “Immediately after
World War I, Chandler and his business associates systematically began to seek out
major eastern industrial enterprises that they could attract to the city” (Markusen et al.
1991, 88). In particular, the entrepreneurs of the fledgling aircraft industry became a
key focus o f the elites. Through this effort, legendary entrepreneurs within the aircraft
industry such as Howard Hughes, Donald Douglas and Jack Northrop began to take
interest in the Basin’s climatic conditions that were suitable for aircraft testing.
Between 1900-1920’s, many of these aviation entrepreneurs relocated their emerging
businesses to the LAM Z (Markusen et al. 1991).
By the 1930’s, civic boosterism was achieving results. An industrial core was
established around the downtown district. Most businesses located near this industrial
core. The aircraft industries began with a small representation in the San Fernando
Valley and in the location o f the modem day Los Angeles International Airport (LA X).
As aviation was a new industry in the early years of the twentieth century, it was not yet
a cornerstone industry within the LA M Z until the large defense contracts for militaiy
planes ensued prior to World War II (Markusen et al. 1991). Furthermore, the
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opportunity to establish the LAMZ as a promising industrial complex relied on
sustained city boosterism and the forthcoming military buildup prior to World War II.
Janet Abu-Lughod elucidates the significance of the military buildup years:
“Furthermore, it was not until the years just before the start o f World War II that Los
Angeles became the recipient o f‘heavy industry’ (automobiles, tires and eventually
aircraft) and a commensurate increase in the demands of unions” (Abu-Lughod 1999,
64). During the World War II industrial boom, industry in general flourished within
the LAM Z. With the support o f large defense contracts for aircraft, this period radically
changed the industrial composition of the LA M Z (Markusen et al. 1991).
With the advent o f World War II, the elites o f the industrial community trans
formed their businesses to support a forthcoming sequence of military, scientific and
aerospace projects. The aircraft industry played a pivotal role in this transformation by
providing the foundation for the rise o f aerospace. Adjusting to the challenges o f the
missile and space race, innovative, industrial elites shifted from aircraft toward
aerospace: anchoring the LAM Z as the “aerospace capital” capital o f the world
(Markusen et al. 1991).
Following the manner in which industrial growth rode the individual waves of
national and military projects, the spatial distribution of the post-war industries radiated
out from the downtown center. While adhering somewhat to the boundaries of the
City’s wards, the vast transportation structure of the LA M Z highway system provided a
decentralizing element to the forthcoming industrial expansion. Additionally, the
location of the seaport, airports, and military bases and the bias of aerospace business
officers drove the decision-making for future plant locations. As the presence o f
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aerospace grew within the LAM Z, vast numbers of support industries located nearby
the aerospace giants such as Raytheon, Hughes, Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas. This
dynamic of aerospace locations outside the original hub created a number of
technopoles (industrial aerospace centers with peripheral support businesses) (Soja and
Scott, 1996). Within the LAM Z, major technopoles emerged around (1) LAX,
(2) Eastern San Fernando Valley, (3) Chatsworth Canoga Park and (4) Irvine Area. A
minor technopole is located in the San Gabriel Valley (Abu-Lughod, 1999). By 1970,
the LAM Z had exhibited global industrial prominence.
Through the latter half of the twentieth century, the LA M Z experienced phases
of growth tied to military and national projects. Between 1940-2000, the Los Angeles
Basin became home to one o f the world’s busiest seaport and airports, a booming
manufacturing and heavy industrial zone, a thriving petroleum industry and a mecca for
high technology. After 1970, the LA M Z arose with particular vigor to world
prominence as an industrial belt sometimes referred to as a “gun-belt” (Markusen et al.
1991). The growth of Los Angeles as an industrial hub includes a complex o f industries
throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties but aerospace is an anchor in the
technopoles. Soja and Scott describe the industrial composition:
Today, the contemporary industrial landscape consists o f a set of specialized
craft industrial districts or agglomerations, mainly concentrated in the center of
the region, a group o f technopoles located outside the old industrial core, and a
spatially extended complex o f small metallurgical and machinery industries,
mostly in and around the older central industrial zones. (Soja and Scott
1996, 12)
In reviewing the United States Department of Commerce’s Census o f Manufac
tures for 1977-1997, it possible to identify the trends o f LAM Z industrial migration. In
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1997, the United States recorded 363,753 manufacturing establishments, California
recorded 49,418 manufacturing establishments and the LAM Z recorded 23,682
manufacturing establishments. Based upon this data, the LAMZ exhibited 6.5 per cent
of the national figures and 48 per cent o f the state figures. The latter is considerable as
California’s economy is ranked with the top 8 global economies.
The Census of Manufactures data further indicate that Los Angeles and Orange
Counties both experienced large industrial migration. In 1963, the number of
manufacturing establishments in Los Angeles County was recorded as 17,434 while
Orange County recorded 1426. Los Angeles County reached a high point of 25,907
manufacturing establishments by 1982. Meanwhile, Orange County reached a high
point o f 5855 manufacturing establishments by 1987. The change in the number of Los
Angeles and Orange County manufacturing establishments from 1963 to 1997 indicates
the large cumulative presence o f industry in the latter half o f the twentieth century.
Furthermore, Orange County progressively exhibits an increasing percentage o f the
manufacturing establishments within the Los Angeles Metropolitan Zone. Based upon
these figures, it can be inferred that decentralizing trend is afoot. (See table 5).
Growing in significance with each new growth spurt, the political prominence o f the
LAM Z increased.
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Table 5. Business Establishments in the LAMZ.
YEAR LAMZ LACTY LA COUNTY AS
% OF LAMZa
ORANGE
CTY
ORANGE CTY AS
% OFLAMZ8
1977 25,822 21,119 81.79% 4,703 18.21%
1982 25,907 20,474 79.03% 5,433 20.97%
1987 25,608 19,753 77.14% 5,855 22.86%
1992 24,237 18,439 76.08% 5,798 23.92%
1997 23,682 17,915 75.65% 5,767 24.35%
Source: United States Department of Commerce. 1977 census o f manufactures.
Geographic area series. 1980.; United States Department of Commerce. 1982 census o f
manufactures. Geographic area series. 1985.; United States Department of Commerce.
1987 census o f manufactures. Geographic area series. 1990.; United States Department of
Commerce. 1992 census o f manufactures. Geographic area series. 1995. and United States
Department of Commerce. 1997 Economic census, manufacturing, geographic area
series. 2000.
a Author’s percentile calculations in columns 4 and 6.
The key to LA M Z development has been a carefully marshaled system o f poli
cies and projects that yielded favorable conditions for future projects. In particular,
water import projects preceded each urban growth spurt. For example, the success of
the water policies put in place by William Mulholland and his colleagues created a
mechanism for sustained growth well into the future. Norris Hundley illuminates, the
importance o f water to LAM Z development.
Driving this development, and constituting Mulholland’s preeminent legacy,
was his policy of bringing in water in advance of need. It was a policy designed
with a great city in mind and for a distant future. As late as 1980 and with a
population o f 3 million, Los Angeles could meet eighty percent o f its water
needs with imported supplies from the Owens Valley and Mono Basin.
(Hundley 1992, 168)
The evolution of elite leadership has relied on expanding the water infrastructure for
unfettered, urban development.
With water access to nearly every major water resource in the American south
west, the local economy progressively became reliant on land development.
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Throughout the twentieth century, real estate and construction interests with the
subsequent capital investments provided the momentum for development. At present,
water policies set in motion by Mulholland and his colleagues remain the crux of land
development cycles.
Historical Population Dynamics
The 1995 USBC recorded a population of 12.4 million for the LA M Z and the
national population was recorded as 267.0 million (UN, 2000). Based upon these UN
figures, the population of the LA M Z was 4.6 per cent of the 1995 national population.
Since 1960, the LA M Z has occupied the second primate position. This status
established the LA M Z as the second primate city in the United States. The significance
in relation to population size within the national context becomes more apparent via a
comparison to the first and third primate cities o f America. The 1995 population of
America’s primate city, New York was recorded as 16.3 million (6.1 per cent of the
national population) while America’s third primate city, Chicago had a population o f
6.8 million (2.5 per cent of the national population) (UN, 2000).
The LA M Z began its American evolution with a population o f approximately
1500 inhabitants. From 1847-2000, the population experienced definitive growth spurts.
Soja and Scott describe the waves of growth:
Starting in 1870, five surges of urban expansion can be identified, peaking first
in the 1880s and then in the 1900s during the Progressive Era, the Roaring
Twenties, the two decades following the Second World War and finally the con
temporary period o f restructuring, which seems clearly to have reached its crest
some time in the late 1980s. (Soja and Scott 1996, 3)
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LAMZ population increases display moderate growth in five eras: (1) from 1880-90,
the LAMZ experienced a population change of 82,000, (2) from 1900-10, a population
change o f 348,000, (3) from 1920-30, a population change of 1,300,000, (4) from 1940-
60, a population change 3,803,000 and (4) 1980-90, a population change of 1,896,000.
These growth spurts led the LAM Z toward megacity status but the population inputs
resembled moderate growth characteristic of geometric trends.
The population o f the LA M Z first reached one hundred thousand in 1900, one
million in 1924, and 11.6 million in 1990 (Abu-Lughod, 1999). Considering the 1992
population statistics tabulated by the Center for Continuing Study o f the California
Economy (CCSCE) for the year 1990, it becomes apparent that Los Angeles County
contributes 9.1 million (78 per cent o f the LA M Z population) and Orange County
contributes 2.5 million (22 per cent o f the LA M Z population) to the LAM Z. From
1950-1995, the LA M Z population increased by 8.4 million, an increase o f approxi
mately 190,000 per year. The United Nations population study, World Urbanization
Prospects. The 1999 Revision (U N 2000) displays that Los Angeles’s population
increased by 2.5 million (63 per cent increase) between 1950-60; 1.9 million (29 per
cent increase) between 1960-70; 1.1 million (13 per cent increase) between 1970-80 and
2.0 million (21 per cent increase) between 1980-90, 0.9 million (8 per cent increase)
between 1990-95 and the projected population between 1995-2000 is predicted to
increase by 0.7 million (6 per cent increase) indicating that the absolute inputs to the
population are displaying signs o f decline. On average, Los Angeles’s population grew
by 1.9 million per decade. This is relatively stable population growth. Interestingly, the
two largest decades o f population growth are the 1950s and 1990s. Based upon these
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statistics, it appears that the LA M Z’s population is beginning to settle into a base line of
equilibrium. (See table 6).
Table 6. LAM Z Population Statistics (1950-95).
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1995
POPULATION (MILLIONS) 4.0 6.5 8.4 9.5 11.5 12.4
Source: Source: United Nations. World urbanization prospects: The 1999 revision. Data
tables and highlights. (United Nations, 2000).
Migration Trends
The LA M Z urban growth is tied to a series o f migration waves beginning in the
late nineteenth century. Although natural increase has been significant, migration has
been the chief variable for metropolitan growth and urban sprawl. In the late
nineteenth-century, city boosters promoted Los Angeles with propaganda and reduced
rail fares. This led to large-scale migration to the Basin. In the twentieth-century,
immigration continued to play a significant role.
The immigration waves increasingly arrived from different parts of the country
especially from the west of the Mississippi. During the World War I I build-up and the
Cold War, migrants from all parts o f the United States especially the southern states
relocated to Los Angeles to take advantage o f the job opportunities tied to the thriving
economy.
In general, internal migration within the United States contributed the major
component to LA M Z population growth. Starting in the 1970’s , immigration to the
LA M Z progressively reflected an international component. Sabagh and Bozorgmehr
identify the international inputs: “Between 1970 and 1990, the dramatic increases from
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1 1 to 32 percent foreign-born in Los Angeles County and from 10 to 27 percent in
Greater Los Angeles make clear the demographic contribution o f immigrants” (Sabagh
and Bozorgmehr 1996, 85). If these international migrants arrive with cultural values
that encourage large families then the added component o f large natural increase within
this category may be expected to impact the population base of the LAM Z. In
summary, the population and migration patterns of the LAM Z in the latter half of the
twentieth century has undergone significant changes.
The impact o f natural inputs and outputs and social inputs and outputs are not
equal between Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Based upon California State
Department o f Finance (CDOF) figures for 1970-90, immigration (social increase) and
emigration (social decrease) exceeds births (natural increase) and deaths (natural
decrease) in Orange County but natural increases dramatically exceed social increases
in Los Angeles County. From 1970-90, Los Angeles County experienced a natural
increase o f 1,515,747 and a social increase o f 326,953. During the same period, Orange
County experienced a natural increase of 399,603 and a social increase of 592,597.
(See table 7).
Table 7. Natural and Social Growth in the LAM Z.
RATE NATURAL NATURAL TOTAL SOCIAL SOCIAL TOTAL
PERIOD (YRS) 1970-80 1980-90 1970-90 1970-80 1980-90 1970-90
LA CTY
(84)a
556,375 959,372 1,515,747 (100,800) 437,830 326,953
ORANGE CTY
(26)a
155,532 244,071 399,603 357,370 235,230 592,597
Source: California State Department of Finance (CDOF), Historical county population estimates
and components o f change, July 1, 1970-1990, CDOF. 1998.
a Author’s decadal calculations in rows 3 and 4 based upon annual totals.
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Since World War II, the LAMZ has increased in population by approximately
1.9 million per decade. From 1950-90, immigration contributed approximately 800,000
per decade. The CDOF utilizes the social inputs and outputs at a number of statistical
area levels including the county level. This provides a clear set o f data to compare Los
Angeles County and Orange County. (See table 8).
Table 8. Migration Statistics for the LAMZ.
YEARS
LAMZ AVERAGE
ANNUAL
LOS ANGELES
COUNTY
ORANGE
COUNTY
1950-90 3,422,220 85,556 1,844,490 1,577,730
1950-80 2,749,160 91,639 1,406,660 1,342,500
1950-70 2,492,637 124,632 1,507,507 985,130
1950-60 1,584,300 158,430 1,172,850a 411,450 3
1960-70 908,370 90,837 334,690 8 573,680 8
1970-80 256,570 25,657 (100,800)b 357,370 b
1980-90 673,060 67,306 437,830 b 235,230 b
a Taken from: Security Pacific National Bank, The southern California
report.A study o f growth and economic stature. Security National Bank,
Economic Research Department 1970, 93.
b Source: California State Department of Finance (CDOF), Historical
county population estimates and components o f change, July 1, 1970-1990,
CDOF. 1998.
Note: Author’s calculations for LAMZ migration totals and average annual
migration in columns 2 and 3 and for period totals in rows 2, 3 and 4.
Comparing the DOF information for the respective decadal periods from 1950-
90, it is possible to derive that the trend toward inmigration was maximized percentage
wise during the 1980s, a 673,000 immigration increase, a 162 per cent increase.
Meanwhile with respect to actual population statistics, the immigration trend reached its
apex, 1,584,300 during the 1950s. Considering these figures, the LA M Z attracted
158,430 migrants per year during the 1950s; far exceeding the estimated average per
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year during the other four decades In summary, migration contributed approximately
3.5 million persons to the population from 1950-1990. During this period, the absolute
population grew by 7.5 million indicating that migration is responsible for approxi
mately 47 per cent of this growth. (See tables 6 and 8).
Population Growth Projections
The clear definition o f the LAM Z provides an accurate framework for reliable
projections. Furthermore, as the metropolitan zone continues to expand, the larger
demographic boundary, the LA CMSA is already in place. This larger statistical area
will provide a larger baseline for accurate population projections. In addition, the U N
average annual rate o f change in population including births, deaths and migration for
displays that the rate of change is decreasing. The UN projections in World Urbanized
Prospects. The 1999 Revision that the year 2000 population for the LA M Z will climb
to 13.1 million nearly 4.7 per cent o f the entire nation (278.4 million) will reside in the
LA M Z (UN, 2000).
The LA M Z’s average annual rates o f change in population for three five-year
projections between 2000 and 2015 display that the rate o f change is declining. The
three periods are enumerated as follows: (1) from 2000-05, the projected average
annual rate o f change 0.67 (6 additions per thousand persons), (2) from 2005-10, the
average annual rate of change is projected as 0.39 (3 additions per thousand persons),
and (3) from 2010-15, the average annual rate of change is projected as 0.32
(3 additions per thousand persons). Meanwhile, the average annual rate of change for
the period 1995-2000 is 1.15, (11 additions per thousand persons) (U N, 2000). These
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rates are important indicators of the input variables to the LA M Z’s extant and projected
population dynamics. This indicates that although the population may continue to grow
it will become less pronounced in terms o f absolute population inputs. However, the
defining variable for the population is associated with water demands and the
availability o f water resources.
Metropolitan Resource Consumption
Located in the semi-arid Basin, the LAM Z relies to a large extent on external
water resources to make up the shortages o f the local water budget. Approximately, 50
per cent of the water supply for Los Angeles County and 20 per cent for Orange County
come from M W D sources including the Colorado River Aqueduct and State Water
Project. Considering the 1963 court findings in Arizona vs. California, the effects of
the M W D 662,000 acre-feet court-ordered Colorado River withdrawal reductions will
have a significant impact on the southern California agencies and communities
contracted to purchase water from M W D. One acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851
gallons of water and an average family of four utilizes about l A acre-foot per year
(O ’Connor, 1998). It can be inferred from this information that one acre-foot might
support an average family of 8 or perhaps 8 individuals. Overcoming the pressure of
growing water demand and the diminished external water supply has required water
agencies and free enterprise to optimize water consumption, production and protection
within the LAM Z.
Based upon the extant population, the available local water resources are not
sufficient to meet water demands without imported water supplies. Natural local water
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supplies including surface water and groundwater production is approximately 750,000
acre-feet. Local supplies total approximately 1.1 million acre-feet per year and include
the LAA. The current reliance on imported water resources is not a viable strategy to
continue as legally mandated reductions will diminish the water budget. Furthermore,
the local water budget is not enough to meet current demand The Los Angeles
Regional Water Quality Control Board makes this condition public:
Surface and ground waters within the Los Angeles Region have proven
insufficient to support the rapidly growing population in the Los Angeles
Region. Water imported from other areas now meets about 50% of fresh water
demands in the Region (California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los
Angeles Region [LARW QCB] 1995, 1-18).
Throughout the twentieth century, water agencies have been aware o f water shortages
and this has affected their approach to water production in the early part of the century
as well as water quality in the latter part o f the century.
In the early part o f the twentieth-century, the LA M Z expended tremendous ef
fort to maximize its water network and optimize the consumption. For example, the
Los Angeles Water Department instituted water metering and 35,955 meters were in
place by 1905. After the installation o f these water meters, water consumption dropped
from 245 gallons per capita in 1905 to 135 gallons per capita in 1907 (Nelson, 1983).
Between 1910-20, average water consumption was recorded at 140 gallons per capita;
by 1930, average water consumption was recorded at 130 gallons per capita (Hill,
1932). However, increased lifestyles account for increased per capita consumption. By
the 1960s, the political and legal shift against the expansion of the water network lead to
increased investment in water conservation. From approximately 1960-80, average
water consumption was estimated at 175 gallons per capita. However, per capita
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consumption within Los Angeles County is variable. For example, Beverly Hills
consumes 301 gallons per capita while Long Beach consumes 172 gallons per capita
(Nelson, 1983). Meanwhile, Orange County consumers utilize approximately 191
gallons per capita (California Municipal Water District of Orange County, 1995). By
the 1980s, the discovery o f water quality threats lead to a tremendous effort to monitor
and remediate local supplies.
Water consumption information is available but not in one record. This makes it
difficult to ascertain the total water consumption within the LAM Z as the water network
involves autonomous water wholesalers, retailers and purveyors that are responsible for
water production from different sources including local surface water, groundwater and
imported water from the LAA, the CRA, and the SWP. End-of-the-line consumers
receive water that has passed through a water production network that includes public
agencies and private enterprises. Through this system, the full price o f water including
the costs of operation and implementation are captured. Thus, despite the multi-tiered
water production network, water delivery is highly efficient. Pricing, persistent scarcity
and drought conditions generate an active search for improving this efficient system via:
(1) innovative approaches to water conservation and recycling, and (2) agencies that
plan water policies to account for average and drought years. Amongst semi-arid
surroundings, LA M Z water policies and management decisions must be parameterized
within the context of: ( I) the extant and projected population, (2) the extant and
projected water budget and (3) average and drought year conditions. This provides a
contingency plan to help meet the projected water demand under best and worst case
scenarios.
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Concluding Remarks
In 1995, the LAM Z was recorded as the seventh largest city in the world with a
population of 12.4 million. In reviewing the population growth since World War II, it
appears that this growth has been slow or geometric growth. From 1847-1990, the
urban growth pattern within the LA M Z was associated with natural and social change
as well as spatial annexations and deannexations. Electoral annexations increased both
the size and political clout of the largest towns in the LAM Z. The largest city, the City
o f Los Angeles benefited the most from the era o f annexation. Despite the politics and
financial motives for development, sufficient water supplies remained the precursor.
Prior to the completion of the LAA, local water supplies were insufficient for
metropolitan development.
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the realization that water scarcity
blighted the growth projected by the city founding fathers prompted the planning and
implementation o f large-scale water appropriation projects. It was clear that external
water supplies were necessary for the extant and projected water demand. Based upon
Los Angeles’ development, it appears that the surges in population growth were
preceded by large-scale water appropriation projects such as the LAA, the CRA, and the
SWP.
Considering the political and legal challenges to the status quo that previously
favor LAM Z development through expansion of the water budget with external water
resources, the water purveyors and decision-makers must carefully calculate future
demands based upon accurate population projections and water availability.
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Additionally, the quantity and quality o f available space for expanding the local water
reservoirs and cycles is a significant component in the water budget. With approxi
mately 48 per cent of the California’s manufacturing establishments located amongst
the groundwater basins, identified sources o f contamination pose a significant threat to
local water resources. These discoveries combined with the legally mandated water
budget reductions served as the impetus for a full-fledged environmental quality
program charged with protecting, preserving and remediating LA M Z water resources.
The LA M Z program is a complement to water management strategies that include water
conservation and recycling. In summary, the local water budget is not sufficient to meet
the water demands o f the LA M Z and adroit planning o f water futures and innovative
solutions is the cornerstone to managing the balance.
Urban Dynamics Comparison
This section will review several urban dynamic variables that lend themselves to
comparison between the respective metropolitan zones of Mexico City and Los
Angeles. These variables include: (1) population, (2) industrial establishments,
(3) spatial boundaries, (4) population projections, (5) migration, and (6) per capita water
consumption. Following a macro-scale comparison, this section provides a simple
quantitative method to analyze the urban dynamic variables with indicators that reveal a
number o f differences and several similarities between the metropolitan zones. In the
case o f per capita water, the subdivisions o f the LA M Z (Los Angeles County and
Orange Country) are utilized as the denominator to their respective counterparts (the
delegaciones and municipios). Utilizing the numerical indicators for the LAM Z as the
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denominator for comparison, these simple indicators include: ( I) a percentage
differential, and (2) a relative index. A negative percentile indicates that the MCMZ
score exceeds the LAMZ score and a positive percentile indicates that the LAM Z score
exceeds the M CM Z score. Likewise, relative index scores above 1.0 indicate that the
M C M Z exceeds the LAM Z and below 1.0 indicates that the LAM Z exceeds the
MCM Z.
Although this system does not indicate a statistical difference, it provides a
macro-level perspective that might serve as an executive summary to decision-makers.
However, such a score might be improved with statistical analysis utilizing a software
program such as SPSS or a spatial analysis utilizing a relational database with mapping
capabilities such as geographic information systems (GIS). The LA M Z figures are
utilized as the baseline for all comparisons. Some o f the units considered such as land
mass and per capita water consumption are based upon different units and thus
converted for standardization. (See Appendix A, table 15).
Metropolitan Growth and Direction
In reviewing the available population and industrial growth records for each
metropolitan zone, it is useful to consider a larger perspective beyond the immediate
metropolitan zone to elucidate the relationship to the national and global statistics.
With regards to 1999 population, the total world population was 6.0 billion and world
urban population was 2.8 billion. In the more developed regions urban populations
were recorded at .898 billion while in the less developed regions urban populations
were recorded at 1.9 billion. In Mexico, the 1999 urban population was recorded at
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72.2 million (74.2 per cent of total Mexican population). In the United States of
America, the 1999 urban population was recorded at 212.6 million (77.0 per cent of
total American population) (UN, 2000).
Based upon these United Nations figures, it appears that those regions under the
rubric, “more developed” exhibit approximately 75 per cent urbanized population. In
keeping with this standard, both Mexico and America exhibit urbanized populations that
fit “more developed” status. The similarity is notable. Both nations will experience
increased pressure within the metropolitan zones to meet the demands o f growing
populations. Therefore planning and implementing water management solutions to the
growing metropolitan demands will require detailed and dynamic analysis o f the major
water consumption groups, the domestic and industrial sectors as well as solutions to
water quality.
In consideration of the manufacturing establishments at the national level, the
total number of establishments is more broadly distributed in America than in Mexico.
It is plausible that the centralized Mexican political hierarchy influences private
enterprises toward the larger metropolitan zones. In America, private enterprise plays a
significant role influencing the planning and decision-making o f the national economy.
As the American political system is more decentralized than Mexico, it is plausible to
infer that the large presence o f industry in Mexico City wields significant political
influence in metropolitan decision-making that favors the industrial hub. Theoretically,
the large presence of industry in Mexico City might influence decisions concerning both
water quality and production.
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The overshadowing challenge to large metropolitan zones will be the capacity to
meet extant and projected consumption demands. The primary metropolitan water
consumer groups are the domestic and industrial sectors. The capacity to develop a
water quality and management framework to meet the projected consumption will be
particularly difficult for the M CM Z where the population and industry are highly
concentrated in a confined area that is further disadvantaged by its isolation and
elevation from neighboring watersheds. Furthermore, political conditions such as
bureaucracy and inertia inherent in the Mexican political hierarchy thwart new solutions
to both water quality and quantity challenges. In the case o f the LA M Z, the climatic
and hydrogeologic conditions present natural impediments to meet burgeoning
consumption demands. Institutional management proved to be a valuable component to
the successful LA M Z water quality and management programs.
Historical Population Dynamics
There are a number o f methods to compare the populations o f the two
megacities but two useful indicators include ranking of largest urban agglomerations
ranked by population size (UN, 2000) and population statistics. The ranking method is
an important and simplified numbering system to track the status o f a megacity amongst
the world’s largest urban agglomerations. For the past 30 years, Mexico City and Los
Angeles have occupied positions in the world’s top 10 largest urban agglomerations.
Mexico City occupied the top four positions from 1970-1995 while Los Angeles
occupied the sixth through ninth positions from 1970-1995. As can be noted in the
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table below, Mexico has risen into the top five rankings since 1970. Meanwhile, Los
Angeles has been consistently ranked between the seventh and ninth rank.
(See table 9).
Table 9. Megacity World Ranking for the M CM Z and LAMZ.
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1995
MCMZ RANKING ~ 14 5 3 3 2
LAMZ RANKING 12 7 9 8 7 7
Source: United Nations. World urbanization prospects: The 1999 revision. Data tables and
highlights. (United Nations, 2000).
Even as the last thirty years display a degree of continuity between these rankings, it
must be noted that as other megacities exhibit rapid or exponential growth the LAM Z
that exhibits geometric growth will be progressively displaced in the rankings.
More specifically, the census statistics of the respective metropolitan zones pro
vide details about the actual populations for the entire metropolitan zone. In the M CM Z,
the 1995 population was recorded at 16.6 million (U N, 2000). While, the 1995
population in the LA M Z was recorded at 12.4 million (UN, 2000). Based upon this
data, the populations are separated by only 4.2 million. With respect to the LAM Z, this
translates into a negative differential of 31 per cent and a relative index o f 1.3. In
reviewing the specifics for the subdivisions of the M C M Z and the LA M Z, IN E G I
provides the 1990 population status for M CM Z while the CCSCE provides 1990
statistics for the LA M Z subdivisions. The 1990 IN EG I Census recorded the M C M Z as
15.1 million of which the Federal District contributed 8.3 million and the municipios
contributed 6.8 million (Mexico IN EG I, 1991). Meanwhile, the 1990 U.S. Census
recorded the LAM Z population at 11.5 million.
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In a study performed by the CCSCE, the researchers tabulated the LAM Z
population as 11.6 million of which Los Angeles County contributed 9.1 million and
Orange County contributed 2.5 million (CCSCE, 1992). In comparing, the two
subdivisions o f each megacity\ it appears that the population is more evenly distributed
among the subdivisions of the M C M Z than in the subdivisions o f the LAM Z. Like the
Federal District, Los Angeles County was established as the original center for the
metropolitan zone. A similarity appears to exist between the 1990 populations o f the
subdivisions: the Federal District hosted 8.3 million while Los Angeles County hosted
9.1 million. Both o f the metropolitan zones sustain their large population base via
natural inputs such as births in excess o f deaths. Like the Federal District, cumulative
natural inputs have exceeded social inputs in Los Angeles County for the past two
decades. Although the municipios and Orange County respectively exhibit lower
absolute metropolitan population growth, each progressively hosts a larger proportion
o f the respective metropolitan population. This may be due to the similarities of
increased social inputs into their respective limits.
The United Nations population statistics for each megacity also provide insight
about the growth patterns o f each metropolitan zone. In general, the growth in the
LA M Z has been more geometric than the M CM Z that exhibited exponential growth of
8.5 million during the 1960s and 1970s. Based upon the World Urbanization Prospects
from 1950-95, the population growth for the M C M Z was 2.3 million, 3.7 million,
4.8 million, 1.2 million, and 1.5 million: an average of 300,000 per year. For the same
period, the population growth for the LA M Z was 2.5 million, 1.9 million, 1.1 million,
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2 million, and 0.9 million: an average of 187,000 per year A comparative look at the
1950-95 population statistics for each metropolitan zone indicates that for 1950 the
LAM Z was .9 million above the M CM Z, for I960 the LAM Z exceeded the M CM Z by
1.1 million but by 1970 the M CM Z exceeded the LAMZ by .7 million. In 1980 and
1990, the M CM Z exceeded the LA M Z by 4.4 million and five years later in 1995 the
M C M Z exceeded the LAMZ by 4.2 million. (See table 10).
Table 10. M CM Z and LAM Z Population Statistics (1950-95).
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1995
MCMZ (MILLIONS) 2.9 5.4 9.1 13.9 15.1 16.6
LAMZ (MILLIONS) 4.0 6.5 8.4 9.5 11.5 12.4
Source: United Nations. World urbanization prospects: The 1999 revision. Data
tables and highlights. (United Nations, 2000).
Considering that the 1990 population records only differ by 3.6 million, the 1995
population gap of 4.2 million is already 600,000 greater. Even as the M C M Z urbanized
population resembles “more developed” regions along urbanization parameters, the
growing population gap provides a signal that Mexico City’s growth is not moderating
like megacities in “more developed” regions. In other words, Mexico City is urbanized
like megacities in “more developed” regions but exhibits large growth typical o f “less
developed” regions. The relief o f counter-urbanization is in effect but Mexico City
offers little space to absorb the population growth. At the same time, differences also
exist in the distribution of the metropolitan population that is more evenly distributed in
the M CM Z (55 per cent in the delegaciones and 45 per cent in the municipios) than in
the LAM Z (78 per cent in Los Angeles County and 22 per cent in Orange County).
Another important point is that the time frame in which the two metropolitan zones rose
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to megacity status is different. The recent growth within the past thirty years and
swelling population exasperate the M CM Z water crisis while geometric growth over
fifty years allowed the LAM Z latitude to better manage water challenges.
Industrial Establishments
With regards to the industrial comparison, the number o f industrial establish
ments in the M C M Z increased from 24,624 in 1960 to 38,492 in 1980 (Garza, 1987).
Reviewing the composition and migration trends o f industrial establishments provides
insight about projecting the expansion of new establishments arriving into the M CM Z.
From 1960 to 1980, the number o f establishments increased in the Federal District from
23,577 (96 per cent o f total M C M Z industrial establishments) to 28,637 (61.4 per cent
o f total M CM Z industrial establishments). During the same period, the number o f
enterprises increased in the municipios from 1047 (4 per cent o f total M CM Z industrial
establishments) to 9855 (38.6 per cent o f total M C M Z industrial establishments). Based
upon this data, the municipios host an increased proportion o f the total industrial
establishments.
From 1977 to 1997, the number o f manufacturing establishments decreased in
Los Angeles County from 21,119 (81.8 per cent o f total LA M Z manufacturing
establishments) to 17,915 (75.7 per cent of total LAM Z manufacturing establishments).
During the same period, the number o f manufacturing establishments increased in
Orange County from 4703 (18.2 per cent o f total LA M Z manufacturing establishments)
to 5767 (24.3 per cent of total LA M Z manufacturing establishments). Based upon a
review o f the current Census of Manufactures, it appears that LA M Z industrial
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migration favors Orange County. The momentum of industrial growth may continue to
attract manufacturing establishments to Orange County along a similar trajectory as the
municipios. However, the decentralizing dynamic of the LAM Z tends to dilute the
degree o f expansion to Orange County that is shared with neighboring counties such as
Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside.
In general, industrial migration in both m egacities is decentralizing. Utilizing
the available data, the M CM Z hosted 38,492 industrial establishments in 1980 and the
LA M Z hosted 23,682 manufacturing establishments in 1997. With respect to the
LAM Z, this translates into a negative differential of 62 per cent and a relative index of
1.6. The political influence o f these industrial hubs on policy making is better displayed
in relationship to national and state figures. The M C M Z figures represent approxi
mately 40 per cent o f Mexico’s national total, while the LA M Z figures represent
approximately 6.5 per cent o f America’s national total and 48 per cent o f California’s
state total.
Both regions host significant industrial complexes with the capacity to exercise
political influence. In the future, this industrial belt may become the catalyst for water
quality control much the way the more broadly distributed technopoles in the LAM Z
became the motivation for the water quality program that monitors and directs
remediation o f industrial contaminants migrating into nearby groundwater basins.
Spatial Boundaries
In comparing the spatial boundaries o f the two megacities, an important differ
ence is that the LA M Z is defined by county limits that are not mutable whereas the
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outermost boundaries of the M CM Z are defined by the urban sprawl occurring along
the fringe. Therefore, the mutable boundaries o f the MCMZ are growing based upon
population expansion into the municipios. A definitive demarcation that encompasses
the entire M CM Z is not established. This presents the same difficulty in identifying the
dynamics o f population growth that was experienced with the mutable boundaries o f the
City of Los Angeles during its period o f annexation and deannexation.
In terms of the present boundaries, the two largest statistical areas in the vicinity
o f the M CM Z are the political regions o f the Federal District and the State ofMexico.
The Federal District is the core o f the metropolitan zone and encompasses 1504 km2
(580 mi2 ). Only seventeen municipios from the State ofMexico reside within the
prevailing M C M Z and encompass 2269 km2 (876 mi2 ). Meanwhile, the entire M C M Z
encompasses 3773 km2 (1456 mi2 ).
The LA CMSA encompasses 5700 mi2 (14,763 km2 ) and is composed o f Los
Angeles County that encompasses 4752 mi2 (12,308 km2 ) and Orange County that
encompasses 948 mi2 (2455 km2 ). The City o f Los Angeles resides wholly within Los
Angeles County and encompasses 470 mi2 (1217 km2 ). Notably, the Federal District is
approximately 580 mi2 with a 1990 population o f 8.3 million. (See table 11).
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Table 11 . Spatial Area for MCMZ and LAMZ subdivisions.
ENGLISH ° METRIC ENGLISH METRIC0
MCM Z0 1,456 m f 3.773 km2 LAMZ0 5,700 mr 14,763 knr
DELEGACIONES
(16)
580 mi* 1.504 km"a LOS ANGELES
COUNTY (82)
4,752 mi* b 12,308 km1
MUNICIPIOS (17) 876 mi* 2,269 km1 a ORANGE
COUNTY (30)
948 mi2 b 2,455 km2
3 National Resource Council (NRC). Mexico City's water supply: Improving the outlook for
sustainability. (NRC, 1995).
b California State Department of Finance (CDOF). California statistical abstract. (CDOF, 1996).
0 Author’s conversions column 2 and 6. Calculated MCMZ and LAMZ totals for row 2 based
upon subtotals.
In summary, the LAM Z is much larger from a spatial perspective than the
M CM Z. With respect to the LA M Z, the difference translates into a positive difference
o f 74 per cent and a relative index o f 0.3 indicating that the LA M Z is almost four times
larger than the M CM Z. Identifying these differences elucidates the extreme
centralization o f population and industry in the M CM Z that has aggravated the
mismanagement o f M CM Z water quality and quantity challenges into crisis conditions.
Furthermore, M CM Z urban growth in such a confined area diminishes and degrades the
hydrogeologic system as the recharge zones are covered with urban surfacing and
unregulated industrial operations pose contamination threats.
Population Growth Projections
A review of the population projections identifies an increased population gap
between the m egacities. By the year 2000, U N population projections indicate the
M CM Z will reach 18.1 million while the LA M Z will reach 13.1 million (UN, 2000).
With respect to the LAMZ, the projections translate into a negative percentage
differential of 38 per cent and a relative index of 1.4. This percentage differential is 7
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per cent greater than the negative differential for the 1995 census records. Therefore, if
the projections are correct, it appears that the gap between the future populations will
continue to increase. More specifically, the difference between the 2000 projections is
5.0 million indicating that the population gap will increase by 800,000. This growth
will increase water demand. Despite the difference in population size, the LAM Z water
managers meet the demand of a large population under the challenges o f a semi-arid
environment: similar policies and programs may be useful to the M C M Z under the
quantitative challenges posed by its burgeoning population.
In considering the projected average annual rate o f growth, the rates exhibit
similarities. For the period from 2000-15, the average rate of 0.38 for the M C ZM is
lower than the average rate o f 0.46 for the LAM Z. Even as the projected 2015
population for the M CM Z is 19.2 million and 14.1 million for the LA M Z, the 0.08
average rate differential favoring the LA M Z will reduce the growth o f the population
gap by the year 2015. However, the absolute populations by 2015 will be 19.2 million
for the M CM Z and 14.1 for the LAM Z. This will lead to an absolute differential o f
5.1 million. Based upon these U N projections, the population gap will increase by only
100,000 between the years 2000 and 2015. (See table 12).
Table 12. Average Annual Rates o f Change in Population.
2000-05 2005-10 2010-15 AVERAGE
MCMZ 0.35 0.25 0.53 0.38
LAMZ 0.67 0.39 0.32 0.46
Source: Source: United Nations. W orld urbanization prospects:
The 1999 revision. D ata tables and highlights. (United Nations, 2000).
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In summary, the average annual rate of change in population for each metropoli
tan zone indicates a moderation o f the projected population growth differential. Even
though Mexico City’s absolute growth continues to exceed Los Angeles, the growth
patterns will become more similar over the long-term.
Migration
In terms o f both metropolitan zones, migration has played a defining role in the
elevation to megacity status. In both megacities, the recent migration trend has
represented decentralization from the original city cores. Considering the subdivisions
of each metropolitan zone, it is apparent that the majority of the migration is occurring
along the fringes namely in the municipios and Orange County. Within the context of
the larger metropolitan zones, the overall population direction is moving outward
toward the urban fringe but not necessarily diminishing in overall quantity. In summary,
the original core o f these megacities are loosing their population to the urban fringe;
added to this dynamic, greater numbers of new arrivals are migrating toward the urban
fringe than to the inner core.
In terms o f the 1950-90 migration figures for each metropolitan zone, there is an
anomaly with each data set that undermines direct comparison. The sources do not
provide consistent small statistical area data. However, based upon the available data, it
is possible to interpret the migration direction for each megacity. Unfortunately, these
numbers do not lend themselves to the percentage or relative index comparison, as the
M CM Z migration figures are not representative o f the accepted demarcation for this
research. In the case of the LAM Z, the California Department o f Finance did not
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tabulate net migration figures at the county level prior to 1970. The figures prior to
1970 were drawn from a report by the Security Pacific National Bank (SFNB) that is
based upon California Department o f Finance records. This report did not include data
for 1969 and 1970. The SPNB figures are still acceptable for this comparative analysis,
as the two years should not severely alter the average annual migration for the entire
1960s. In the case o f the M CM Z, the figures considered in this research represent the
entire State ofMexico. This spatial area is lager than the accepted definition o f the
M CM Z. However, considering the entire population within this larger statistical area
would severely alter the population figures for the M CM Z. Therefore, for the purpose
o f this macro-level qualitative comparison, considering the migration State ofMexico
which encompasses the seventeenth municipios within the M C M Z is still relevant as
this data provides an indication o f the migration direction.
In reviewing the available data, it becomes apparent that immigration was a
large component o f population change for the M C M Z and for the LAM Z. From 1950-
90, immigration contributed 3.4 million to the LA M Z population. From 1950-90,
immigration accounted for 6.6 million within the Federal District and the State of
Mexico, including all 100 municipios. Considering that Los Angeles County is larger
than both of these Mexican statistical areas, this is a substantial increase. The M C M Z
experienced its largest decadal immigration of 2.9 million in the 1970s and its largest
decadal emigration o f 1.2 million in the 1980s. Meanwhile, the LAM Z experienced its
largest decadal immigration 1.6 million during the 1950s. Since then, migration has
been relatively moderate in the LAM Z. Therefore, the historical immigration has been
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proportionally different between the M CM Z and the LAMZ yet migration has a
significant impact on the size and direction of the population for both megacities.
In considering the subdivisions o f each metropolitan zone, the direction of mi
gration becomes more apparent. From 1950-90, the State ofMexico experienced an
immigration o f 6.65 million while the Federal District experienced an emigration of 50
thousand representing a cumulative loss to the inner core. It appears that there is a
strong emigration trend from the Federal District toward the municipios. During the
same period, Los Angeles County five times the size o f Orange County experienced an
immigration o f 1.8 million and Orange County experienced an immigration o f 1.6
million. Considering the difference in size o f these two statistical areas, it appears that
immigration between the two counties is more significant to the overall population
change o f Orange County than Los Angeles County. Notably, larger migration figures
are recorded for the counties surrounding Los Angeles and Orange County indicating an
even more pronounced decentralizing trend that may be diluting the potential
immigration to Orange County. In summary, migration has been larger for the M C M Z
in the recent past while LA M Z migration has been steady for the past forty years. On a
final note, it appears that migration plays a more significant role in shaping the growth
of the urban fringe of the municipios and Orange County.
Per Capita Water Consumption
Per capita water consumption within the M CM Z is recorded as 364 liters per
day for the Federal District and as 230 liters per day for the municipios (NRC, 1995).
Converting this per water capita, the Federal District is consuming 96.1 gallons per day
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while the municipios are consuming 60.7 gallons per day. Per capita water consumption
within Los Angeles County is recorded as 175 gallons per day (Nelson, 1983) that is
equivalent to 662.4 liters per day and within Orange County the per capita water
consumption is 191 gallons per day (Municipal Water District o f Orange County, 1995)
that is equivalent to 723 liters per day. According to The World Health Organization
(W HO) 150 liters per capita per day (39.6 gallons per capita per day) is required per
household for proper sanitation in metropolitan zones of the developing countries
(Falkenmark and Suprato, 1992). With respect to Los Angeles County, the Federal
District utilizes 45 per cent less water per capita, a relative index o f 0.4. With respect to
Orange County, the municipios utilize 68 per cent less water per capita, a relative index
o f0.3. (See table 13).
Table 13. Per Capita Water for the M C M Z and LAM Z.
METRIC ENGLISH® ENGLISH METRIC6
DELEGACIONES (16) 364 litersa 96 gallons LOS ANGELES
COUNTY (84)
175 gallonsc 662 liters
MUNICIPIOS (17) 230 liters a 61 gallons ORANGE
COUNTY (26)
191 gallons'1 723 liters
WHO STANDARD 150 liters b 40 gallons
a National Resource Council (NRC). Mexico City ’ is water supply: Improving the outlook for
sustainability. (NRC, 1995).
b Malin Falkenmark and R.A. Suprapto. Population-landscape interactions in development:
A water perspective to environmental sustainability. (Ambio 21:31-36, 1992).
° Howard J. Nelson. The Los Angeles metropolis. (Kendall/Hunt, 1983).
d California Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC). Regional urban water
management plan. (MWDOC, 1995).
e Author’s conversions columns 3 and 6.
Considering these numbers, it is apparent that the LA M Z is consuming more water per
capita than Mexico City. However, a number o f potential discrepancies between the
available data may undermine the efficacy o f this comparison. These
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include: ( I) the accepted definitions, (2) the accuracy of metering and (3) the more
lavish lifestyles typical of developed nations. Accepting these potential anomalies,
these figures provide a potential basis for comparative analysis.
Water delivery in the M C M Z is not metered at the same level as the LAM Z.
Severe drought conditions in the LA M Z mandated metering that was put into effect in
the early part o f the century by Mulholland (Hundley, 1992). Therefore, the more
vigilant policies may promote more accurate per capita consumption data. Addition
ally, the water delivery system in the M C M Z leaks at approximately 40 per cent in
some parts of the megacity. It is not clear from the data available if the water lost to
leaks is included in the water consumption data. To yield more complete per capita
data, the lost water should also be considered.
Concluding Remarks
This section compared six urban dynamic variables as indicators common to the
M C M Z and the LAM Z. In general, this research identified that the size ofMexico
City’s population and industrial hub exceed Los Angeles while at the same time Mexico
City’s spatial size is nearly four times smaller. Additionally, the LA M Z overcomes its
semi-arid climatic conditions and still provides more water per capita than the M CM Z.
These findings point out the challenges faced by both megacities are common. Both
face large water demand challenges from the presence of large domestic and industrial
consumers. The percentage differential and relative index indicators provide a simple
overview that illuminates common urban dynamic themes. Through this comparison,
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differences were discovered that help to elucidate Mexico City’s water crisis. The
results of this review are recorded in table 14. (See table 14).
Table 14. Percentage Differential and Relative Index Comparisons.
PERCENTAGE RELATIVE
INDEX DIFFERENTIAL
POPULATION 1995 (31%) 1.3
POPULATION 2005 (38%) 1.4
INDUSTIAL HUB (62%) 1.6
SPATIAL BOUNDARIES 74% 0.3
MIGRATION NA NA
PER CAPITA WATER 45% 3 0.4a
CONSUMPTION 68% b 0.3 b
a Compares Los Angeles County to the Federal District
b Compares Orange County to the municipios
In summary, both prevailing and projected population variables display that the
population gap is growing. According to the 1995 population statistics, the LA M Z is 31
per cent smaller than the M C M Z, a relative index of 1.3. While a decade later, the
LA M Z is 38 per cent smaller, a relative index of 1.4. A greater presence o f M CM Z
business establishments is expressed by the high negative differential of 62 per cent,
and a relative index o f 1.6. However, Mexico City’s industrial hub concentrated in one
central location is similar to Los Angeles’ technopoles. The historical operation of
industries within LA M Z technopoles is the source of leaking contamination during
decades of unregulated activity. This contamination has degraded the Los Angeles
Basin aquifers and requires monitoring and remediation. The widespread contamina
tion led to an environmental quality program that involves federal, state, regional and
local level regulation. The similarities between the respective industrial sectors should
provide the M CM Z environmental regulators a focal point for starting a water quality
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program. Planned governmental decentralization of the M CM Z industrial hub and
population may also be required.
Meanwhile, the spatial boundaries display the largest quantitative difference.
The LA M Z is 74 per cent larger, a 0.3 relative index. The expanding spatial boundary
of the M C M Z should be set at a larger level to improve the accountability for future
growth with the associated institutional support and services.
Lastly, the per capita water consumption is broken into two comparisons: one
between the original core o f each city namely Los Angeles County and the delegaciones
that exhibited a positive 45 per cent differential, a 0.4 relative index and the second
between the two fringe zones namely Orange County and the municipios that exhibited
a positive 65 per cent differential, a 0.3 relative index. It appears that based upon the
available per capita water figures that a large difference exists favoring the LAM Z. In
the M CM Z, per capita water consumption will probably increase as metropolitan
lifestyles improve. Therefore, noting the large per capita difference between the LAM Z
and the M CM Z, closing the lifestyle gap will only increase the pressure on M CM Z
water resources. Promoting improved lifestyles will require the implementation of
polices to optimize delivery and protect the integrity of the existing water supplies.
In considering the comparison of the six urban dynamics variables addressed in
this chapter, it appears that cumulatively the M CM Z is under increased urban strain. To
resolve water protection and management challenges, the M C M Z policy makers must
adjust a number o f urban and water policies including centralized growth, subsidized
water pricing and the reliance on external water resources. Operating under the
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prevailing mismanaged water management program, M CM Z policy makers should
reflect on solutions innovated in their twin city (Pick et al. 1999) to the north.
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CHAPTER 2
HYDROGEOLOGY
This chapter addresses the hydrogeology and the impact of human activity on
water quality and quantity. Using a water watershed model that considers the reservoir,
its inputs and outputs, the hydrogeology for each metropolitan zone is described. In
this chapter, the hydrologic and geologic systems that affect the water quality and
management control plans for the respective metropolitan zones of Mexico City and
Los Angeles are outlined and compared. In the first two sections, the hydrology relative
to local and external water supplies as well the surface and subsurface hydrogeology o f
each metropolitan zone. In the third section, a comparison is made between the
respective hydrogeologic models o f each water basin to elucidate the opportunities and
obstacles that affect successful water quality control plan in Mexico City.
The Valley o f Mexico
The M C M Z lies within a large watershed referred to as the Basin o f Mexico (the
Basin). The Basin is in turn a subsection of an even larger regional watershed defined
by the Comision Nacional de Agua (CNA) as The Valley o f Mexico (Region XIII: one
o f the CNA’s thirteen regional watersheds). Region XIII encompasses 16,504 km , two
basins (The Basin of Mexico and The Basin of the River Tula), the entire Federal
District, and crosses the political boundaries o f the States of Mexico, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo
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and Puebla. The Basin is located within the tropics of (19° 05’ and 20° 05’) latitude and
(99° 30’ and 98° 00’) longitude. The Basin itself encompasses between 9000-9950 km2
(NRC, 1995; CNA, 1999).
The subdivision located in the southwestern comer o f the Basin is referred to as
the Valley of Mexico (The Valley) (NRC, 1995). For the purposes o f this research, this
designation will be the accepted geographic area. Although, the Valley of Mexico is a
broadly accepted convention, published measurements and estimates of the square area
are remiss. Nevertheless, as the Valley contains the M C M Z that encompasses 3773
km2 (NRC, 1995), a conservative estimate of (4000-5000) km2 would be acceptable
estimated area.
The hydrologic system within the Valley reflects the surface and subsurface
geology as well as the climate. The Valley floor resides at approximately 2200 meters
above sea level. The Valley’s most defining characteristic is a series of steep volcanic
mountains that form constraining boundaries around the western, southern and northern
borders and a slightly wider border to the east. Possibly, the most undervalued Valley
feature is Mexico City’s principal network of upper aquifers (the Metropolitan Zone,
Chaleo, Texcoco and Cuautitlan-Tizayuca-Pachuca). Other aquifers contribute to
Mexico City’s supply but these four correspond to the location of the M CM Z. The
complete system of aquifers is often referred to as the Mexico City Aquifer (NRC,
1995). On the national scale, water is plentiful but can be locally scarce. This is
because water resources are unevenly distributed throughout Mexico. The nation’s
renewable water resources are estimated at 3815 m3 per capita; these estimates exceed
the 1000 m3 per capita bench mark considered to be sufficient for daily human needs
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and health (World Resources Institute [W RI], 1997). Over 85 per cent of Mexico’s
water resources are below elevations of 500 meters. However, the lion’s share of
Mexico’s residential and industrial consumers (70 per cent of the population and 80 per
cent o f industry) resides at elevations above 500 meters (Scott, 1982). This scenario is
exhibited to an extreme extent in Mexico City because the majority of water resources
that are abundant throughout the nation are below the Valley. Local water resources
within the Valley are estimated to supply enough water for approximately 8.5 million
(Ramirez, 1990). This is a limiting condition for the M CM Z. Most o f this water supply
occurs within the water-bearing sediments beneath the Valley floor.
Mexico City’s domestic and industrial water consumers continue to grow pro
ducing large anthropogenic impacts. The long-term record exhibits that the Valley has
endured the effect o f anthropogenic activities for nearly five millennia beginning
approximately 3000 B.C. Initial human activity did not leave much of an impression on
the Valley’s hydrologic system, but the significant anthropogenic impacts o f the
twentieth century have drastically altered both traditional water inputs and introduced
new outputs. In fewer than five millennia, human progress has undermined the balance
that nature had nearly perfected.
Over the previous five millennia, many dominant civilizations modified the Val
ley, but their cumulative toll on the environment was less than the impacts in the latter
half o f the twentieth century. Today the Valley water resources are on the threshold of
crisis. The twin pressures of metropolitan population and industrial growth are
threatening water quality and the expansion in water consumption aggravates the
limited water resources within the Valley. In fact by 1970, Region X III was among
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three national watershed regions that displayed water consumption rates beyond
sustainable levels (Scott, 1982). Additionally, Mexico City sustains groundwater
production that surpasses recharge.
In Mexico City, the politics are the determining variable in most decision
making. The increased pressure to develop Mexico City as the power center of the
nation has been driven by the former political agenda of the Partido Revolucionario
Institutional (PRI). In fact, one o f the PR I’s chief objectives has been to maintain
control. This was partially achieved through its political programs and centralized
growth. With approximately 70 per cent of Mexico’s population residing in urban
areas, the PRI national agenda focuses on the needs o f such areas. Mexico City as the
primate city receives an unprecedented share of the nation’s resources. Water resource
utilization has followed a growth model based on large-scale, short-term projects. This
model enhances urban growth while degrading water ecology.
The Valley water resources have received little attention to foster proactive
plans that might better manage and protect the aquifers or optimize water consumption
to reduce wasteful water practices As a potentially sustainable source o f water, the
quality of the subsurface waters deserves a higher level o f attention. As it does not fit
into the high visibility PRI agenda, restoring the sustainability of the Valley water
resources is not given political attention, governmental guidance, or the appropriate
fiscal support. Given improved political leadership, the Mexico City Aquifer might be
the basis for a matrix of solutions to pending water crisis.
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The Valley Hydrogeology
The Valley of Mexico provides a capacity for water recharge on the order of
27 m3 /s (Ezcurra et al. 1999). The hydrogeologic conditions of the reservoir offer a
host o f opportunities to protect and optimize Mexico City’s local water supplies.
The reservoir
One of the region’s most defining features is a ring of volcanic mountain ranges
reaching heights over 5000 meters above sea level (NRC, 1995). The highest points are
the Volcanoes Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl towering at respective elevations of
5747 M and 5286 M (Valverde and Aguilar, 1987). The volcanic mountains naturally
seal the Valley and serve as recharge zones for the network of aquifers. Under natural
conditions, precipitation and rivers recharged the hydrologic reservoir and the volcanic
mountain ring served to constrain and guide water toward the Valley floor via gravity
forming a lake system (del Castillo Muris, 1978). A positive hydraulic flow from the
subsurface also supplied water to the lake system.
The original lake encompassed roughly 2050 km2 in the western most third of
the Basin. Approximately, 1400 km2 was bounded by three volcanic mountain ranges
including Sierra del Chichinautzin (to the south), Sierra Del Las Cruces (to the west),
Sierra de Guadalupe (to the north) and the high points of Texcoco and Chaleo (to the
east). This sub area was located within the prevailing Valley boundaries and
corresponds well with the delegaciones (1504 km2 ) (NRC, 1995). The remaining
650 km2 of the lake resided north of Sierra de Guadalupe (north o f the MCMZ urban
fringe). Forming one large contiguous lake, these two large bodies o f water were
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connected by a narrow channel located to the west of Sierra de Guadalupe. Today,
most of the lake system is drained and some o f the dry lakebeds are used as landfills
and catch basins for raw sewage.
A cross-sectional view of the Valley reveals thick uniform geologic horizons
with minimal intermingling between sediment types. The Valley is a long grahen (a
depressed section of the earth’s crust bounded by faults) (Anton, 1993) that served to
capture sediment and water. The Valley’s stratification can broadly be grouped into
three aquifers (water-bearing zones) and two aquitards (impermeable zones) reaching
depths exceeding 1500 meters (Mosser, 1991).
There are three distinct hydrologic zones in the Valley o f Mexico: (1) the lacus
trine zone, (2) the transition zone, and (3) the mountain zone. The lacustrine zone is
formed by lake deposits and covers the majority of the Valley floor. These deposits
extend from the Valley floor to depths o f 100 M and form a clay aquitard (Mosser,
1991; NRC, 1995; Ezcurra et al. 1999). The transition zone is composed of fractured
basalt and gravel as well as alluvial silt and sand. This zone occurs along the slopes of
the numerous hills, mountains, and volcanoes and serves as the recharge zone supplying
water to the upper aquifer network. The mountain zone includes all the hills,
mountains, and volcanoes. This zone is composed o f permeable volcanic rock and
basalt that serves as the recharge zone for the middle and lower aquifers. O f the three
aquifers, the upper aquifer is under production; the middle and lower aquifers are too
deep to be considered economically viable to increase water production.
The upper aquifer extends from the surface to 500 M. Under natural conditions,
this zone is impermeable and provides the confining foundation for the pre-historic
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lake. Because of the clays, the lacustrine layer is an aquitard reaching depths of 100 M
(Mosser, 1991; NRC, 1995; Ezcurra et al. 1999). The majority o f this layer is composed
of relatively impermeable clays but surrounding the high Valley hills and volcanoes
recharge zones composed o f permeable alluvium reside at depths from 10-40 M . From
approximately 100-500 M , a lower section of the upper aquifer is composed of
permeable volcanic deposits (Mosser, 1987, 1991 and 1996; NRC, 1995; Ezcurra et al.
1999). The Valley groundwater resources reside within the dispersed permeable zones
(10-40 M) and the lower volcanic deposits (100-500 M ). As the Valley is littered with
numerous hills, mountains, and volcanoes, the floor is composed almost entirely of a
clay aquitard with sparse recharge zones.
At depths of 500-750 M , a lower aquitard o f Pliocene lacustrine clay deposits
constrains the deepest levels of groundwater resources within the upper aquifer. Below
this layer resides the middle aquifer (500-3000 M ) composed o f permeable Miocene
and Oligocene volcanic deposits. The majority of the recharge supplies for the middle
aquifer originates in the mountain zone, particularly the Sierra del Chichinautzin.
Finally, the deepest known zone is composed of Cretaceous limestone. It is believed
that this zone, the lower aquifer, may be interdependent with the middle aquifer.
Similarly, the recharge supply for the lower aquifer limestone formations is the porous
and permeable basalt of volcanoes, mountains, and hills (Mosser, 1991, 1996; NRC,
1995; Ezcurra et al. 1999).
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Inputs and outputs
The water budget of the Valley can be considered as the summation of inputs
and outputs. The two natural sources of water are precipitation and rivers.
As the Valley of Mexico is in the mountain zone of the northern tropical belt,
precipitation is the main source o f water replenishment. “The mean annual input of
rainwater into the basin is 744.2 million m3 (23.6 m3 /s), some 50 per cent of which
infiltrates the subsoil and recharges the aquifers” (Ezcurra et al. 1999, 83). Based upon
these figures, natural recharge is roughly 11.8 m3 Is. The annual Valley precipitation
ranges from 600-1500 mm. On the fringe of the M CM Z, these levels vary: (1) The
Valley of Tlaxcala in the State ofTlaxcala (east of Mexico City) experiences 600-700
mm, and (2) The Volcanic Range o f Chichinautzin including the Volcanoes Ajusco to
Tres Marias (southwest of Mexico City) experiences the maximum precipitation 1100-
1500 mm (Jauregui Ostos, 1987; Ezcurra et al. 1999). The latter resides between 2900-
3200 M and is considered the most productive o f the Valley recharge zones. A final
element is the cyclic nature o f precipitation. “A single storm can produce up to 70
millimeters (about 3 inches) o f rainfall, representing 10 per cent o f the total annual
precipitation” (NRC 1995, 28). In general, the majority o f the precipitation is delivered
in heavy storms during the summer months.
The other input to the Valley is from rivers and their tributaries. These sources
account for approximately 2 per cent o f the metropolitan water supply (NRC, 1995).
Three major rivers on the western part of the Basin supply water to the Valley of
Mexico: (1) the Magdalena River, (2) the Remedios River, and (3) the Cuautitlan River
(Valverde and Aguilar, 1987). Other tributaries contribute as well. However, the water
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supplied by the Valley’s rivers are considered unfit for human consumption and require
pre-treatment for industrial consumption. For potable water, most of these rivers are
rated as “not acceptable”, “doubtful”, or “in need of major treatment” (Mexico INEG1,
1999). For industrial use, most o f the same rivers are rated as “restrained use”,
“in need of major treatment” and only two rivers (the Cuautitlan and Tepotzotlan
Rivers) are “considered acceptable for industrial usage without treatment” (Mexico
IN EG I, 1999).
Prior to the arrival o f the Spanish, water was plentiful relative to the demands of
early civilizations and flooding was not a chronic problem. With the exception of
evapotranspiration, no natural water outputs existed for the Valley. During the
Spanish conquest, water quantity problems emerged as the lake system was drained,
aggressive clearing ensued that led to floods and fioodwater was diverted out o f the
Valley. This diversion resulted in loss to the lake reservoirs and diminished recharge to
the upper aquifer network. By the twentieth century, both the quantity and quality of
the available water became issues.
The Human Variable
In its original setting, the Basin o f Mexico with its plentiful water resources was
a desirable location for early civilizations to thrive. However, with the arrival o f
humans began a continuum of anthropogenic modifications. As Mexico City evolved,
each civilization that established in the Basin introduced practices that progressively
disrupted the interdependent ecosystem. The drainage of the original lake provides a
clear example of the anthropogenic imprint. By the end of the sixteenth century, the
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original lake size was diminished by approximately 50 per cent transforming the lake
into three smaller lakes. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the pre-historic
lake size was diminished by approximately 75 per cent forming five distinct lakes.
The development o f Mexico City began around 3000 B.C. with the arrival o f the
first human inhabitants who introduced farming. Although innocuous at the time, the
introduction o f agriculture was the initial step toward the transformation and
development of the modem megacity. More advanced land conversion such as clearing
large tracts o f land for livestock and crops were followed later by metropolitan
construction o f highways and buildings that progressively expanded the limits o f the
metropolitan zone. As Mexico City is a highly centralized megacity, the population,
industry and metropolitan infrastructure have taxed the natural limits and resilience of
the Basin’s hydrologic systems. The cumulative result is that the Basin is no longer
considered self-sufficient, and requires external resources to meet metropolitan
demands.
During the Valley’s self-sufficient period, one of the principal civilizations to
dominate the Basin was the Aztec Empire. The arrival of the Aztecs (around AD 1325)
harnessed the lake system. The Aztecs introduced a means o f farming on man-made
islands within the lake. These chinampas (agricultural islands) were built above the
lake. Channeled water irrigated the system o f chinam pas.
Beginning in the 15G0’s, the Spanish introduced a European growth model that
encouraged environmental manipulation and ushered in aggressive land practices. The
first noticeable impacts on the Basin hydrology ensued. The Spanish began to modify
the Basin by filling the Aztec chinampas system and draining the lake. Despite a 75 per
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cent decline in the lake system, the original inventory o f water supplies was so vast that
surface water (lakes, rivers and springs) continued to provide the main source o f potable
water for the Basin population. Another significant impact of this practice was the
formation o f salt in the topsoil horizons that reduced fecundity (Ezcurra, 1995). Due to
the vast availability of land, these infecund land tracts were subsequently abandoned
and new tracts were cleared to augment agricultural needs. Spanish logging practice
initiated soil erosion and increased flooding (Ezcurra et al. 1999).
The first series of major floods occurred in 1553, 1580, 1604 and 1629 (Ezcurra,
1995). This yields a flood frequency o f approximately every 25 years. Subsequent
floods occurred at shorter time intervals (Ezcurra, 1995). The Spanish response was to
build diversion canals, substantially reducing the waters that maintained the Basin lake
system. These anthropogenic outputs were introduced to channel water out of the
Valley and overcome the damage o f reoccurring floods.
After the end o f Spanish rule in 1821, the newly formed Mexican government
continued the drainage practices introduced by the Spaniards. The cumulative
ecological impacts o f the pre-industrial era were noticeable and displayed a progressive
trend toward increased degradation o f the Basin ecosystems. Draining the surface
waters primarily focused on the lake system to bring even larger tracts of land into
development. The levels of the Basin lake system and the water table continued to
decline. The drastic reduction in the lake system altered the prevailing hydrology
throughout the Basin. Progressively, access to potable water became difficult. In 1846,
the discovery of potable subsurface supplies initiated groundwater pumping for the first
time (Orozco and Berra, 1864).
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During this period, the Industrial Revolution accelerated the existing ecological
impacts and initiated new impacts to the Valley’s hydrology. Additionally, the
exponential growth trends o f Mexico City’s population and industry led to burgeoning
water demands. Progressively, Basin surface water resources (lakes, rivers, and springs)
became difficult to access and the hydraulic pressure reversed.
By the late nineteenth century, the hydrologic system displayed visible signs of
stress: (1) flooding continued to be prevalent, (2) obtaining easily accessible potable
water for the increased population became increasingly difficult as the lakes were dried
and the springs began to fail, and (3) drilling for groundwater progressively became the
solution to augment the region’s water demand. Tapping the aquifer only worsened
conditions in the M CM Z. Between 1910-87, the extraction o f water lead to compaction
under the basin and the center o f Mexico City subsided approximately 10 meters
(Ezcurra et al. 1999).
The decline in the lakes, rivers, and natural springs caused Mexico City’s water
purveyors to seek alternative sources o f potable water. Increasingly, the megacity’ s
water demands were met by pumping from the Basin’s network o f aquifers. By the end
of the nineteenth century, the Basin had begun to experience the early signals o f the
forthcoming water crisis: overexploited surface water and groundwater within the
Basin forced consideration of external water resources to augment water consumption
demands. These early water resource problems were a precursor to the combined
challenges of water quality and quantity.
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Twentieth Century Imprint
Up to the twentieth century, the cumulative result o f the prevailing water prac
tices was a progressive decline in the Valley’s surface water and natural springs.
However, these alterations were minor in comparison to the unprecedented hydrologic
impacts o f the twentieth century. As the twentieth century progressed, increased
pressure to produce water for consumers led to over-exploitation o f the aquifers while
maintaining centralized urban growth. It undermined the sustainability of the Mexico
City aquifer.
In the twentieth century, the threat to water quality and quantity in the M CM Z
are tied Mexico City’s urban growth policies. These urban policies and programs focus
on centralized growth and stretch the limits of the Valley’s hydrologic system’s
capacity to function as sustainable resources. Throughout the twentieth century,
Mexico City’s dynamic growth undermined the integrity o f the Valley water resources.
Since the end o f World War II, industrial and agricultural enterprises operated without
enforceable environmental regulation. The large industrial hub is now a potential
source of contamination. The discharge practices in Mexico City are not sufficient to
prevent biological and chemical contamination from entering the lacustrine and
transition zones. Such contamination potentially could migrate into the network of
aquifers undermining the integrity of these resources for extant and future consumption.
Water management themes
Presently, the hydrologic inputs to the Valley are diminished and diverted, the
hydrologic cycle is altered, impacting the surface and subsurface water reservoirs, and
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the water outputs from the Valley are increased. Mexico City appears to be positioned
to experience two critical challenges to the existing water budget: (1) expansion of
metropolitan water demand into presently unserviced areas such as the conurbations,
and (2) growth in the absolute water demand of the entire M CM Z. At present, an
overdraft condition (withdrawal rate exceeds recharge rate) exists undermining the
long-term viability of the Mexico City Aquifer. Based upon the prevailing overdraft,
the projected growth in water consumption implies a potential crisis.
Urban demand
In the 1990s, Mexico City’s water supply was approximately 63 m3 /s (Ezcurra et
al. 1999). The Basin’s local groundwater resources account for 70 per cent o f Mexico
City’s consumption and the remaining 30 per cent is imported from neighboring basins
(Ezcurra et al. 1999). Per capita water consumption in the delegaciones is approxi
mately 364 liters per day and approximately 230 liters per day in the municipios
(Mexico Departamiento del Distrito Federal (DDF), 1992; Mexico Comision Estatal de
Aguay Saneamiento, 1993). These figures provide a means to compare absolute water
consumption between the delegaciones and the municipios. Based upon the per capita
consumption, it appears that the consumption in the municipios is 134 liters per day, or
37 per cent less than the delegaciones. Considering that the standard of living will
likely improve in the municipios, it is plausible that this differential gap will close. As
this gap closes, there are indications that increased water service for running water and
drainage will be required to fulfill the demands of the projected urban growth into the
municipios of the MCMZ.
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In the Federal District, water demand is distributed as 59 per cent domestic and
14 per cent industrial. In the municipios, water consumption is 80 per cent domestic
and 15 per cent industrial (Guerrero and Garduno, 1982). The significance of these
figures is that domestic and industrial consumer groups dominate water demand in the
M CM Z. These consumers group each contribute pressure on the existing water
resources that has led to an overdraft condition of the Mexico City aquifer. The
population o f Mexico City for instance grew from around 0.5 million at the beginning
of the twentieth century to approximately 16.6 million in 1995. Additionally, the
second largest group of water consumers, the industrial sector, is heavily centralized in
the M C M Z rose in number from 24,624 business establishments in 1960 to 38,492 in
1980 (Garza, 1987). Considering that Mexico City’s political culture ignores water
optimization options such as conservation and recycling, Garza’s statistics indicate a
growth trend that will result in an increase in the industrial sector’s water demand.
Options such as water transfers from other consumer groups like agriculture within the
Valley will not be a sure source o f increased water inputs to the primary consumer
groups. Water transfers from regions outside the M C M Z might be arranged but
expensive delivery infrastructure and operation would be required.
As domestic and industrial demand grows in the M CM Z, the gap in the extant
infrastructure will be challenged to meet probable upgrades. Some experts estimate that
in parts of Mexico City as much as 40 per cent of the existing water pipes are leaking
(NRC, 1995). Considering a uniform loss o f 25 per cent throughout Mexico City and
accepting that 63 m3 /s of water is moved through this leaking delivery network, this loss
would translate into roughly 16 m3 /s (Ezcurra et al. 1999). This loss to leakage in the
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delivery system is slightly less than the 19.5 mVs imported from the Lerma and
Cutzamala Basins (Ezcurra et al. 1999). Even though based on rough estimates, the
result implies a large loss of potable water that may be entering the lacustrine and
transition zones. These hydrologic zones are vulnerable to domestic and industrial
contamination thus this water loss may mix with contamination. Expensive pump-and-
treat recovery would be required for metropolitan consumption from this source.
Therefore, recapturing this lost water is problematic.
Considering the macro-scale, the growth in water demand is not commensurate
with population growth. The global growth rate o f water increases at a rate three times
faster than the population growth rate (Frederiksen, 1997). This is partially due to the
fact that many o f the convenience items associated with improvements in the standard
o f living increase water usage. Malin Falkenmark and Asit Biswas elucidate this
challenge and explain the relevance of this global trend (Falkenmark and Biswas, 1995).
In a latter work, Biswas summarizes their points:
Suffice it to note at present the fact that total water-use growth rate has been
significantly higher than the population growth rate in the present (twentieth
century). In fact, if the recent decades are considered, total global water use has
grown at almost three times faster than the population growth rate. I f these
trends continue well into the future, doubling of the world’s population would
mean a six-fold increase in the total global water requirements. (Biswas 1997, 4)
I f Mexico City follows this macro-trend, growth of domestic water demands can be
approximated as a factor of three relative to the prevailing population growth rate.
Sustaining this condition will rupture Mexico City’s water system.
Fortunately, the largest consumer, the domestic sector that consumes the major
ity of the M CM Z water is projected to experience diminished growth rates. Based upon
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the projected UN Average Annual Rate of Change in Population for the years 2000-
2015, the average growth rate for Mexico City is 0.38 (indicating 3 additions per
thousand persons for each five year interval) resulting in a population of 19.2 million in
2015 (UN, 2000). These figures indicate a population that is reaching equilibrium even
as the absolute population continues to grow. Despite this moderation, Mexico City’s
political culture continues to promote centralized growth that attracts industry to the
metropolitan zone. In addition to the projected water usage growth, there are
indications that the population already exceeds the threshold of the local water supplies.
The Valley’s natural water resources have been estimated to satisfy a maximum of
8.5 million (Ramirez, 1990). Adopting a hypothetical description based upon Mexico
City’s 1995 Census statistics (16.6 million) and Ramirez’s estimates (8.5 million),
7.1 million metropolitan water consumers receive their water from overdrafted aquifers
and external water resources. With little investment in conservation, Mexico City is
mining the water supplies of future generations to provide the water required for the
prevailing water demand.
Groundwater exploitation
The Mexico City Aquifer includes a central network o f aquifers (The Metropoli
tan Zone, Chaleo, Texcoco and Cuautitlan-Tizayuca-Pachuca). Prior to urbanization,
percolation of snow and rainwater through the mountain and transition zones filtered the
water that replenished the aquifer. The recharge of these waters into the aquifer created
artesian pressure that generated positive hydraulic flow (Durazo and Farvolden, 1989).
no
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By the 1800s, advanced urbanization severely altered the water resources in the Valley
and groundwater production wells began to operate in 1846 (Orozco and Berra, 1864).
The initial impact o f groundwater pumping was minor but the pumping rates
increased concurrently with rising metropolitan demand. By the twentieth century, the
rates of extraction accelerated. In 1900, the groundwater-pumping rate was 1.19 m /s.
In 1988, the rate o f extraction reached 55-56 m3 /s (Durazo and Farvolden, 1989;
Rudolph, Cherry and Farvolden, 1991). This extraction rate was achieved through a
network of approximately 5000 wells throughout the Basin that yielded some o f the
largest urban area aquifer production in the world (Rudolph, Cherry and Farvolden
1991). Within the M CM Z, 1089 registered wells operate at depths from 70-200 M
(NRC, 1995) and about 3600-recorded wells operate in the entire Basin (Ezcurra et al.
1999). This exploitation diminished the aquifer levels by as much as one meter per year
(Anton, 1993). “Water level measurements during the period from 1986 to 1992 show
a net lowering o f 6 to 10 meteres in the heavily pumped zones of this region” (NRC
1995, 13). This overdraft undermines the long-term sustainability o f the Mexico City
Aquifer.
Extensive groundwater pumping diminished the hydraulic pressure resulting in
the reversal o f the upgradient o f the Mexico City Aquifer. Some o f the negative effects
of the diminished hydraulic pressure include; (1) additional expense to drill deeper
wells, (2) downgradient presenting potential conduits for contamination, and
(3) subsidence that reduces storage capacity. In an effort to counter these impacts,
groundwater production within the Valley was curbed. By the 1990s, groundwater
extraction was reduced to approximately 43 m3 /s (Mexico DDF, 1992; Mexico
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Comision Estatal de Agua y Saneamiento, 1993; Ezcurra et al. 1999). At present, the
recharge rate is estimated at 27 m3 /s, 11 m3 /s of natural recharge and approximately 16
m3 /s of artificial recharge from leaks (Ezcurra et al. 1999). Despite the reduction in
groundwater production rates, the Valley groundwater production exceeds best-
estimated recharge. This translates into a net deficit to the water budget and severe
subsidence (compaction of subsurface soil followed by collapse) in the Valley.
Subsidence
As the groundwater levels dropped in the Valley aquifers, removal of groundwa
ter led to subsidence of the surface layer. As subsidence occurs, the storage capacity of
water-bearing geologic layers is reduced. Since 1910, sections o f the M CM Z
experienced subsidence on the order o f 10 M (NRC, 1995; Ezcurra, et al. 1999).
Although the subsidence rates throughout the Valley are not uniform, it appears that
subsidence is a persistent problem and there are no clear indications when the problem
will cease (Ezcurra et al. 1999).
Covering the recharge zones
During the twentieth century, the expanding boundaries o f Mexico City im
pacted the sustainability of the Valley’s hydrogeologic systems. Growing in concentric
rings, the metropolitan sprawl consumed the majority o f the easily accessible land. As
much of the best quality lands along the lacustrine zone are consumed, residents
arriving in the M C M Z now make use of the slopes along the steep hills and mountains
of the transition zone to build homes. Concrete and asphalt surfaces cover the recharge
zones where water resources (precipitation, rivers and lakes) entering the Valley are
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absorbed. The diverted balance builds into floods that are then eliminated from the
Valley’s hydrogeologic system via the drainage network.
Output expansion
In general, there are two major output systems now operating in the Valley of
Mexico. These are the Grand Drainage Canal (Grand Canal) and the deep drainage
system. Both flow from Mexico City toward the State o f Hidalgo (north o f Mexico
City). Toward the end o f the nineteenth century, the Grand Canal was developed to
carry away floodwaters. The Grand Canal is one large channel that originates in the
megacity below ground but it emerges above ground as it passes through the municipal
fringe. During the 1970s, the deep drainage system was developed to augment the
removal of floodwater. The deep drainage system consists of a number o f deep tunnels
and interceptors originating within the limits of the M CM Z including the Emissor
Central (begins at the center o f the M C M Z) and Emissor del Poniente (begins west of
the M CM Z). The deep drainage system runs below the city and distributes the
untreated metropolitan effluent and floodwater to the State of Hidalgo. This untreated
water has come to be known as the aguas negras (black waters). Although the aguas
negras provide a cheap source o f irrigation water to Hidalgo’s agricultural consumers,
this water source is contaminating the State of Hidalgo with toxic chemicals. Notably,
the State of Hidalgo is not a willing recipient of this contaminated water (Ezucrra et al.
1999).
Both the Grand Canal and the deep drainage system now carry an estimated 100
m3 /s of combined floodwater and untreated wastewater (Ezcurra et al. 1999). The
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original flow of these drainage systems was based upon gravity but the subsidence is so
severe that the gradient has reversed and now these flood and wastewater flows must be
pumped out o f the city. Ezcurra and his colleagues have estimated that energy required
to pump this flow through the deep drainage system is approximately 25 megawatts
(M W ) (Ezcurra et al. 1999). Based upon their total economic estimates of inputs and
outputs to the Basin, it is possible to estimate that the individual fiscal costs for this
output are approximately $60,000 per day or $22 million per year.
As flood frequency and wastewater flows increase based upon the expanding
demands of population and industry, the output quantities and the associated costs are
likely to increase. Barring any efforts to optimize water consumption, the prevailing and
foreseeable hydrogeologic conditions will be decreased input and increased output from
the reservoir. The net effect is a declining water supply that will increase reliance on
external sources.
Tapping new external water resources appears improbable from both the finan
cial and political vantage. Yet, Mexico City’s prevailing political culture encourages
water purveyors to select policies and programs that support centralized growth.
Therefore, Mexico City’s water purveyors continue to plan for projected water demand
around external water resources.
External reservoir exploitation
Based upon Ramirez’s estimates, the Valley passed the threshold for sustainabil
ity by the end o f the 1960s when the population reached 8.5 million (Ramirez, 1990).
At that point, Mexico City entered a period in which the Valley’s local water budget
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could no longer sustain the growing metropolitan water demands. As the problem of
subsidence became apparent and progressively worsened, the need to scale back
groundwater production clashed with the need to increase water supplies for the
growing metropolitan zone. Spurred on by urban growth and the Valley’s overex
ploited local water resources, the deficit in meeting the burgeoning water demand led
water purveyors in Mexico City to pursue water appropriations projects by exploiting
the neighboring basins.
Beginning in the 1950’s, a series o f water appropriation projects were imple
mented. The two chief projects include: (1) the Lerma Basin in 1958, and (2) the
Cutzamala Basin in 1982. Both o f these basins are separated from Mexico City by the
Sierra de Las Cruces range to the west. Pumping water over this geographic barrier
poses an astronomical fiscal cost. However, the political pressure to meet the
burgeoning metropolitan water demand overrode the economics these water projects.
Tapping the Lerma and Cutzamala basins now provides a combined input of 19.5 m3 /s
to the Valley water budget (Ezcurra et al, 1999). Without this two-staged expansion of
the Valley water budget, Mexico City would have experienced a water crisis.
Pumping water from the Lerma and Cutzamala Basins over the Sierra de Las
Cruces requires 250 M W to elevate it 1000 M (Ezcurra et al. 1999). Based upon
Ezcurra and his colleagues’ economic estimates, the financial costs are estimated to be
$600,000 per day or $220 million per year. Additionally, the interdependent
ecosystems of these basins are treated with the same neglect as the Valley’s local water
supply. The net effect is that these neighboring basins are experiencing falling water
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tables, and the growing extraction rates are undermining the sustainability of these
hydrologic systems (Simon, 1997).
The decline in water quantity in the Lerma and Cutzamala Basins as well as the
Valley might serve as a signal that Mexico City’s urban growth and lack of self-
sufficiency is reaching its limits. For almost a decade, additional basins have been
considered for appropriation including the Amacuzac Basin (south o f Mexico City) and
the Valle de Oriental and Tecolutla Basin (east of Mexico City). Despite the extravagant
ecological and economic costs involved in transporting imported water up to the Valley,
the severity of Mexico City’s water crisis promotes the quest for potential imported
water resources. Anton describes the challenges associated with one o f the latest
potential water appropriation projects:
Bringing water into the valley from elsewhere is becoming impractical and too
expensive. Although the resources o f the Lerma-Cutzamala Basin are almost
exhausted, tapping the Balsas or the Amacuzac Basins would mean pumping
water 1200-1500 M upwards and constructing long pipelines, storage reservoirs,
and other costly engineering works. (Anton 1993, 117)
These projects are being considered along with a number of potential sources including
all the immediate neighboring basins by the water purveyors in the Comision Nacional
de Agua (CNA). It is estimated that all of the neighboring basins could provide an
additional capacity on the order o f 40.5 m3 /s (Ezcurra et al. 1999). I f implemented,
these water appropriation projects would substantially diminish the productivity o f the
surrounding regions (Anton, 1993; Simon, 1997). The likely result would be:
(1) increased migration to the M C M Z from the regions as livelihoods dependent on
these resources vanish, and (2) increased competition from thriving metropolitan zones
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such as Toluca in the Lerma Basin. In the final analysis, economic barriers may force
M CM Z purveyors to consider other options.
Water quality themes
The recent overexploitation o f the Valley aquifers raises the concern that surface
and atmospheric contaminants may infiltrate the production aquifer. Presently,
groundwater pumped to the surface exceeds the recharge rate by about 50 per cent and a
downgradient now prevails (Ezcurra et al. 1999). Negative hydraulic pressure
undermines the integrity of the lacustrine clay layers as it may provide a broad-scale
mechanism for vertical migration o f biological and chemical contamination. Under
desiccated conditions, the tendency is for lacustrine formations to become brittle and
fracture. In Mexico City, pervasive subsidence unevenly fractures the lacustrine layer
and breaches the competency of the aquitard between the surface and the network of
upper aquifers. Based upon these conditions, the conventional wisdom that the
lacustrine clay layers serves as a buffer from surface contaminants has come under
some scrutiny.
In general, there are two perspectives pertaining to the contamination threats to
the Mexico City Aquifer. On one side, there is a belief that the lacustrine zone
composed of a thick competent layer of relatively impermeable clays that will prevent
or at least retard the migration o f contamination. On the other side, there is the belief
that both the lacustrine and transition zones are vulnerable to severe contamination from
surface and atmospheric sources. A number of studies indicate that the lacustrine layer
is rife with tiny fractures that may serve as conduits for contamination and the transition
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zone is very porous and vulnerable to contamination. As studies of the Valley’s
geology and hydrology continue to improve the understanding of the interconnected
systems, better protection and restoration may ensue.
Subsurface field studies
Based upon field studies o f the Valley geology and hydrology, good data about
the specific dynamics pertaining to the aquifers and the lacustrine zone are emerging
(Rudolph, Cherry and Farvolden, 1991; Ortega-Guerrero, Cherry and Rudolph, 1993;
NRC, 1995; Ezcurra et al. 1999; Mazari-Hiriart, Torres-Baeristain et al. 1999; Mazari-
Hiriart, Hemandez-Eugenio et al. 2000). Based upon the findings o f these experts, it
might be possible to infer that the Valley aquifers are vulnerable to surface contami
nants. Following the aquifer’s downgradient, contaminants such as coliform (bacterial
indicators of livestock and human waste), major ions such as chlorine and sodium ions
(indicators of agricultural waste) and toxic chemicals (indicators of industrial waste)
from surface levels have been identified within the subsurface o f the lacustrine zone.
However, a collective agreement is lacking about the time frame for vertical migration
from the surface to the aquifers.
Field studies in the early part of the 1990s provide insight about the subsurface
dynamics. Hydrogeologic studies performed along the periphery of the MCMZ at Lake
Texcoco (northeast o f the Federal District) and in the Chaleo Basin (southeast of the
Federal District) suggest that biological and chemical migration through the lacustrine
aquitard is plausible (Rudolph, Cherry and Farvolden, 1991; Ortega-Guerrero, Cherry
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and Rudolph, 1993). Ortega-Guerrero and colleagues describe the implications of their
findings in the Chaleo Basin:
Another consequence o f the change in ground-water flow conditions in the
lacustrine aquitard is the release o f chloride and other chemical constituents
from the aquitard to the aquifer. Release of chemical constituents in the pore
water in the aquitard has not yet caused significant impairment o f the water
quality in the deep aquifer wells; however; as pore water from the aquitard con
tinues to enter the aquifer, the potential for significant deterioration o f the water
quality exists. (Ortega-Guerrero, Cherry and Rudolph 1993, 717)
In another important hydrogeologic study, Rudolph and his colleagues examined
the lacustrine clay regions in Lake Texcoco. They collected data at six sites within an
active groundwater production field. The results displayed that major ions such as
chlorine and sodium increased with depths near heavily pumped wells; while the
correlation was weak for moderately pumped wells. Anticipating that this penetration
was due to aggravation of natural fractures by the pumping pressure, Rudolph and
colleagues ran a computer model to estimate the fracture size:
The closest match to the observed CF profile was achieved with a fracture spac
ing of 1.5 m and aperture o f 30 pm. This aperture is very small, only slightly
larger than the average diameter o f a human hair. Thus, such fractures could, in
some cases, go unnoticed in visual inspection of core samples. (Rudolph, Cherry
and Farvolden 1991, 2198)
The source of transmission for these contaminants appears to be microscopic fractures
in the clay layers. Some of these fractures occur naturally while others are induced by
(1) subsidence, (2) the cone o f depression associated with groundwater production and
(3) the desiccation of the clay zone. Furthermore, the faults located throughout the
Valley contribute to the seismic activity in this region that could feasibly rupture large
segments of the aquitard with particular relevance to desiccated lacustrine formations
segments. As much of the M C M Z lies above the lacustrine zone that is composed of
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clays such as those studied at Lake Texcoco and the Chaleo Basin, the findings at these
sites might be germane for the rest o f the M CM Z as well.
More recently, Mazari-Hiriart and colleagues performed two important field
studies that provide insight to the dynamics o f the Valley’s hydrogeology. The first was
a 10-month study o f five extraction wells to test for the presence o f bacterial and viral
indicators o f fecal pollution in the southern aquifers. Two wells were located in the
lacustrine zone, two in the transition zone, and one in the mountain zone. The results
indicated the presence o f viral pathogens that might serve as a signal o f concern
relevant to other parts of the Mexico City Aquifer. The transition zone exhibited the
highest concentrations o f contamination while the wells in the lacustrine zone
(considered impermeable) exhibited the lowest concentrations o f contamination. This
study furthered the findings of a 1993 study performed by The National Resource
Council of the eastern and northern aquifers that exhibited the presence of chemical and
biological contamination (Mazari-Hiriart, Torres-Baeristain et al. 1999).
In Mazari-Hiriart’s second field study, soil samples from the lacustrine layer
were collected and analyzed for the vertical absorption o f tetrachloroethylene (PCE),
(a degreaser based upon a chlorine structure and considered to be carcinogenic by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency). The samples were drawn from
8-75 M that is equivalent to 25-225 feet in downtown Mexico City. From the
laboratory results, the study indicates that the absorption o f PCE to the clays is closely
associated with the fraction o f organic carbon in the clays. The results indicate that the
chemical make-up o f the lacustrine clay layer serves as a buffer retarding PCE
migration. However, Mazari-Hiriart points out that this might be a finite dynamic for
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PCE. As the clay formations become saturated and/or fractured, there is the probability
of sustained vertical PCE migration (; Mazari-Hiriart, Hemandez-Eugenio et al. 2000).
Lastly, most of the experts on Mexico City’s hydrologic and geologic condition
agree that the presence o f organic contaminants such as TCE and PCE and their
interaction with the subsurface o f the Valley are not well understood nor monitored
(NRC, 1995; Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiart, 1996; Ezcurra et al. 1999). Owing to the
presence of the large industrial belt (a large potential source of organic contamination)
and the significance o f the Mexico City Aquifer to the metropolitan drinking water
supply, the paucity o f scientific research and regulatory guidelines is a significant
concern. In particular, the interaction between the lacustrine clay and the most prevalent
organic compounds is of utmost utility.
Sources o f contamination
The potential threat posed by biological and chemical contamination exceeds the
water quality threats. Since World War n , the momentum of Basin degradation has
increased. Small quantities o f contamination potentially could pollute entire aquifer
systems, requiring costly pre-consumption treatment. A number o f point and non-point
contamination sources exist throughout Mexico City including smog, drainage conduits,
the industrial belt, landfills, leaking underground storage tanks and illegal dumping.
Each o f these poses a real source o f contamination that is not adequately managed under
Mexico’s existing environmental quality program.
Air borne threats. Many o f the dried up lakebeds are used as disposal reservoirs
for raw sewage. Upon the dry lakebeds, the fecal matter desiccates into a potential air
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borne threat. The fecal matter settles into suspended particles that can be lifted by the
prevailing air streams and gradually deposits back to the Valley floor. The seasonal
effects of dry, hot climate and upward flowing wind currents provide the mechanisms to
lift and suspend the fecal matter into the local atmospheric cycle. Effectively, the air
above the city becomes a reservoir for the air borne fecal contamination; deposition and
precipitation deliver the contaminants back to the basin floor where it presents a
renewed potential to pollute water and soil resources.
Bacterial contaminants suspended in the atmosphere may be transported via
rainwater posing a potential source o f fecal contamination to the surface water resources
in the Valley. The concentration of microorganisms in rainwater is on the order of
100-150 microrganisms per liter (Soms Garcia, 1986).
Additionally, the same source exists to suspend air borne industrial contami
nants. Mexico City’s local atmospheric pollution (smog) is saturated with toxic air
borne compounds such as lead, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur
dioxide. The presence of smog trapped by the high volcanic mountain ring surrounding
the Valley is a real concern as the toxic compounds potentially could re-enter the
hydrologic system via deposition and precipitation. In 1983, automobile and fixed
source emissions resulted in 4,491,800 tons per year o f pollutants. Up to 1986, only
leaded gasoline grades were sold in Mexico City resulting in lead emissions of 8 }ig/m3.
This is five times the allowable standard of 1.5 jag/m3 (Ezcurra, 1995). These chemicals
may return via precipitation or deposition to the Valley presenting another contamina
tion source to surface water resources as well as the productive aquifers. Conduits for
chemicals resident in rainwater include: (1) the permeable transition zone, (2) fractures
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in the impermeable lacustrine zone, (3) poorly designed production and monitoring
wells, and (4) leaks in the drainage tunnels and interceptors.
Drainage channels. The disposal o f untreated wastewater in combination with
floodwater in unlined channels that principally run their course through the lacustrine
layer provides a conduit for biological and chemical contamination. “One of the main
causes of water contamination is the practice of dumping industrial waste into the
sewage system” (Ezcurra et al. 1999, 93). Although approximately twenty-seven
treatment plants exist in the M CM Z, only 4.31 m3 /s is treated (NRC, 1995). Approxi
mately 90 per cent of all the wastewater generated in Mexico City entering the drainage
conduits is untreated (NRC, 1995). At present, ineffective environmental regulatory
efforts increase the potential for illegal dumping from industrial sources into these
conduits. Contamination impacts the floodwater channeled through this system and
could leak from the channels into the soils. Subsidence, seismic shock and tectonic
movement all threaten to fracture these conduits opening pathways for the effluent.
Additionally, most of the waste conduits are made of concrete that tends to be porous.
In sum, the drainage system and its toxic cargo is a potential source o f contamination to
the aquifers.
Industrial sources. Another potential concern involves the location o f a large
industrial belt that resides above portions o f the Mexico City aquifer. Approximately
3 million metric tons per year o f hazardous wastes are generated by industries within
the Federal District (NRC, 1995). Accepting these figures and Garza’s reports that
28,492 business establishments resided in the M CM Z during 1980 (Garza, 1987), it
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possible to estimate that each enterprise was responsible for generating approximately
161 metric tons per year of hazardous waste in the Federal District. In a joint study, the
National Research Council quantified the contamination: “In addition to the wastes
currently generated, there are about 40 million tons of old hazardous wastes produced
since the 1940s, when the area’s industrialization sharply increased” (NRC 1995, 41).
This poses a concern for the aquifers residing beneath this industrial belt.
Potential and actual sources o f contamination. A number o f rogue or unknown
sources o f contamination may exist under the weak environmental enforcement in
Mexico City. These include point and non-point sources of contamination. Owing to
scant availability of public information pertaining to these types o f sources in Mexico
City, an understanding o f similar circumstances in the LAM Z illuminates potential
contamination dynamics associated with point and non-point contamination sources. In
the LAM Z, public records and programs identify the following sources of contamina
tion as potential threats to groundwater basins including: (1) land fills, (2) leaking
underground storage tanks, (3) spills during transportation, (4) illegal dumping, and
(5) abandoned and poorly designed production and monitoring wells.
In Mexico City, most municipal landfills are not lined. As the practice requiring
separation of domestic from hazardous wastes is not strictly enforced, landfills pose a
source of contamination in the M C M Z. Ezcurra and colleagues describe the threat
posed by the dumping practices in the MCMZ:
Current disposal sites for both hazardous and non-hazardous liquid and solid
wastes pose the threat o f contaminating soils, especially in areas o f permeabil
ity, as well as ground water, owing to leaching. Considering that ground water
is the source of 70 per cent o f the city’s drinking water, adequate waste man-
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agement is crucial to reducing the vulnerability o f the basin at large and of
Mexico City in particular. (Ezcurra et al. 1999, 150)
These lax practices undermine the integrity of the groundwater resources.
Leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) are a pervasive problem throughout
the globe. Many USTs have been abandoned and records do not always exist about
their location. Without the availability of proper records and permits, these USTs will
not be easily located and thus continue to function as sources o f contamination. Most
USTs are made of steel that tends to rust and crack with exposure to water-laden soils or
excessive pressure. Transportation spills are imminent challenges as the spill location
might occur anywhere that the vehicle might travel. Theoretically a cargo truck with a
load o f gasoline might spill along a roadway in the transition zone. This could lead to
catastrophic contamination o f the aquifers. Illegal dumping is extremely vexing as it
typically happens at night and in remote locations. This is another mobile source of
contamination that must be considered as a threat to the Valley’s aquifers. Lastly, a
typical migration pathway into the aquifers includes poorly designed production and
monitoring wells. Such wells are conduits for precipitation and runoff laden with
biological and chemical contamination. During the rainy season, these wells should be
considered a migration conduit.
Concluding Remarks
During the twentieth century, both local and external water resources supplying
Mexico City’s water supply have experienced qualitative and quantitative threats.
Unfortunately, Mexico City’s decision makers focus the majority o f their budget and
attention on water production. Under the prevailing status quo, a viable water quality
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program that works is remiss. The myopic focus on water usage has supported the PRI
centralized growth model yet Mexico City is once again approaching another water
crisis condition. Previous water crisis conditions have been met with expansion of the
Valley’s water budget through water import projects. In the past, the residents o f the
exploited watersheds have been helpless against the PRI-backed water purveyors that
engineered the extraction projects. However, this condition is beginning to change and
the exploited residents have become increasingly outspoken and actively block the
plans for future water projects. Cities such as Toluca in the Lerma Basin will
progressively present obstacles to such practices. Additionally, Mexico City’s heavy
reliance on subsidized water pricing as a distributive benefit to metropolitan citizens
amplifies the water crisis. This pricing structure is emerging as a complete failure as
the costs o f implementation and operation of the water appropriation projects are not
covered by the pricing passed on to consumers. The economic costs in terms of
infrastructure and energy could be considered prohibitive. Combined with the
ecological costs to the neighboring basins, the water import projects appear to provide a
net loss from the economic and ecological perspective; yet the prevailing power
structure fails to address the difficult issues posed by a centralized growth model and a
closed hydrogeologic reservoir. These challenges undermine the metropolitan water
purveyors’ ability to pursue traditional water management solutions and the former
political leadership has undermined their ability to innovate and implement new
solutions. Despite the pending water crisis that is compounded by the increase in water
consumption tied to urban growth, the solutions remain political. Under such
conditions, Mexico City water purveyors are in an unenviable position.
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The Los Angeles Basin
The LAM Z resides within the confines o f a large watershed referred to as the
South Coast Hydrologic Region (one o f ten hydrologic regions designated by the
California Department of Water Resources) (DW R). From its northern limits above
Ventura County to its southern limits at the Mexican border, the South Coast
Hydrologic Region covers approximately 11,500 mi2 and 54 per cent of the state
population (California State Department o f Finance [DOF], 1996; California
Department of Water Resources [California DW R], 1998). The hydrologic region is
subdivided into 62 groundwater basins. The CDWR provides the following definition
for groundwater basins: “Ground water basins are separated from adjacent basins by
geologic features such as nonwater-bearing rock, faults, or other geologic structures
which impede ground water movement, and by natural and artificial mounds or divides
in the water table or piezometric surface” (California DW R 1961, 114). This definition
of groundwater basins aids the management process by limiting the territory disputed
over potential land use conflicts.
Three groundwater basins composing an estimated 1260 square miles yield the
majority of the groundwater production in the LA M Z (California DW R, 1998). Two o f
these groundwater basins are located entirely within Los Angeles County including
(1) San Fernando Valley Basin (SFVB), and (2) Main San Gabriel Basin (MSGB). The
remaining groundwater basin is the largest and occurs beneath both Los Angeles and
Orange Counties. The Coastal Plain Basin is separated by a political boundary between
the two counties giving rises to: the Los Angeles County Coastal Plain (LAC-CP) and
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the Orange County Coastal Plain (OC-CP). For the purpose o f this research, these
groundwater basins will be collectively referred to as The Los Angeles Basin (the
Basin).
The Basin resides in an open formation in which the majority o f the water enter
ing the watershed moves via gravity through the surface and subsurface southwesterly
toward the Pacific Ocean. The geography (mountains, highlands, valleys and coastal
plains) ranges from 11,000 feet above sea level (asl) gradually sloping toward the
Pacific Ocean. The occurrence and movement of subsurface water is determined by:
(1) the mountain ranges that direct water through natural impasses such as the Los
Angeles and Whittier Narrows and (2) variable stratified formations composed of
permeable and impermeable geologic layers. These conditions produce a network of
interconnected and aquifers that occur at variable depths.
Spatially, the Basin is located in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere
within the estimated boundaries o f (33.4°-34.6°) latitude and (117.8°-119.1°) longitude.
This location is a semi-arid coastal zone. Average annual precipitation range from
10-15 inches in the coastal plains and up to 20-45 inches in the mountains. Most of this
precipitation occurs in the winter months. Frequent drought conditions further diminish
rainfall taxing limited local water supplies. In general, local water scarcity prevails.
Water scarce conditions are further aggravated by 100 years o f intensive urban
development. At the start o f the twenty-first century, the LA M Z hosts one of the largest
population bases in the world and a large industrial complex. The anthropogenic
modifications that launched the LA M Z growth to megacity status introduced significant
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qualitative and quantitative impacts to the natural hydrogeologic conditions degrading
and diminishing local water supplies.
The local water budget has also been impacted by the political and legal shift in
the American southwest. The status quo conditions that formerly favored Los Angeles
development into a megacity have shifted. The most significant legal setback is the
1963 United States Supreme Court finding in Arizona v . California. Under this finding,
California is scheduled to eventually relinquish a large share o f its present imported
water supply from Colorado River sources.
LA M Z water regulators and managers have developed a proactive approach to
water quality, monitoring and management that includes large infusions o f imported
water to sustain burgeoning water consumption. By the year 2015, the full impact of
Arizona v. California will diminish imported supplies from the Colorado River forcing
greater reliance on local water supplies. Groundwater in particular will play a
significant role. Los Angeles County relies on groundwater for approximately 50 per
cent o f its water supplies and Orange County relies on groundwater for approximately
80 per cent of its water supply. The interconnected subsurface flow o f several
groundwater basins elevates the significance o f qualitative integrity and quantitative
attributes within these basins.
Now that the LAMZ is a bona fide megacity and the status quo that favored the
former scale of development is no longer in tact, the LA M Z is challenged by climate,
politics, legislative maneuvering, urban growth and contamination. The outlook for the
resilient LAM Z is not completely bleak because a historical precedent exists for
systematic planning and adjustments that have managed water crisis episodes to date.
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In summary, the LAMZ arose from a region that is water scarce through efficient water
management. By the 1980s, water crisis management began to incorporate water
quality to prepare for long-term reliance on local water supplies. The persistent
challenges present opportunities and incentives for innovative solutions to meet the
pending water crisis.
The Basin Hydrogeology
The Basin offers a hydrogeologic model exhibiting permeable and impermeable
subsurface layers. The stratigraphy within the Basin provides the framework for a
network of aquifers that includes complex aquifers within individual basins and several
interconnected basins. The geology may be divided into three major categories
including: (1) Jurassic or Older Age crystalline and metamorphic rocks typifying the
mountain ranges, (2) Tertiary and Cretaceous Age sedimentary rocks o f marine origin
typifying highland areas, and (3) Recent and Pleistocene Age alluvial formations
typifying the valleys and coastal plains (California D W R 1961).
The SFVB is the northern most groundwater basin within the LAM Z. It is an
unconfined basin bounded by the Santa Susana and San Gabriel Mountains (to the
north) and the Santa Monica Mountains (to the south). The elevation ranges from
approximately 7100 feet asl in the San Gabriel Mountains sloping toward a low point of
300 feet asl at the Los Angeles Narrows. In this section o f the LA M Z, the stratigraphy
is composed o f Recent and Pleistocene Age alluvial sediments up to 1000 feet thick
with a groundwater storage capacity approaching 3.2 million acre-feet (Blomquist,
1992). Precipitation, runoff and artificial recharge are major sources of replenishment.
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Runoff and subsurface flow from the SFVB migrates toward the Los Angeles River that
eventually discharges into the Pacific Ocean. Due to the Los Angeles River’s natural
impermeable base and recent concrete lining, the captured runoff does not replenish the
“downstream” aquifers in the LAC-CP (Blomquist, 1992).
The MSGB is located in the northeast portion o f the LAM Z. It is an unconfined
groundwater basin bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains (to the north) and the Puente
and San Jose Hills (to the south). The elevation ranges from approximately 1100 feet
asl sloping down to a low point o f300 feet asl at the Whittier Narrows. Through the
Whittier Narrows, the occurrence o f groundwater and contamination in the “upstream”
MSGB migrates toward the ocean placing the “downstream” LAC-CP in the migration
path o f contamination. The stratigraphy is composed o f Recent and Pleistocene Age
alluvial sediments ranging from 250 to 300 feet thick in the northeast portion to nearly
2000 feet in the center. These geologic conditions favor direct surface recharge and
provide a storage capacity on the order o f 9.5 million acre-feet. Precipitation, runoff
and artificial recharge replenish the MSGB (Blomquist, 1992). Subsurface water
exceeding aquifer storage capacity flows southwesterly toward the LAC-CP.
The LAC-CP and OC-CP are really one basin split by a political boundary. The
LAC-CP is located in the western portion o f the LAM Z and the OC-CP is to the south.
The LAC-CP is bounded by the Santa Monica Mountains (to the north), a political
boundary with Orange County (to the east) and the Pacific Ocean (to the west and
south). The OC-CP is bounded by the Puente Hills and Santa Ana Mountains (to the
east), a political boundary between Los Angeles and Orange Counties (to the north), the
Pacific Ocean (to the west), and San Joaquin Hills (to the south). Both are underlain by
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an aquifer system based upon impermeable and permeable zones that give rise to
independent and interconnected aquifers occurring at variable depths. The LAC-CP
provides nearly 19.5 million acre-feet storage capacity and the OC-CP provides 1.5
million acre-feet storage capacity (Blomquist, 1992).
The elevation of the LAC-CP ranges from approximately 400 feet asl in the
Puente Hills sloping down to sea level. The stratigraphy is composed o f Recent and
Pleistocene Age alluvial sediments ranging up to 1500 feet thick. The LAC-CP is
subdivided into a nonpressure and pressure zones. In the western portion o f the LAC-
CP, the pressure zone is covered with an impermeable clay layer that prevents direct
surface recharge. In the eastern portion o f the coastal plain, the nonpressure zone is
composed o f permeable surface sediments that provide a conduit for direct recharge.
The aquifers o f the nonpressure zone are replenished by precipitation, runoff, artificial
recharge and “upstream” flows from the MSGB. The pressure zone is reliant on the
subsurface recharge flowing from the nonpressure zone. The CDW R details the
recharge mechanism and challenges posed by urbanization:
The areas o f contact between aquifers and areas o f contact with the ground sur
face are important because it is only through these areas that surface water can
be introduced by spreading into the aquifers in major quantity. The most impor
tant area in this regard in the Coastal Plain of Los Angeles County is in the vi
cinity o f the Whittier Narrows in the Montebello Forebay Area because of the
interconnection of the deeper aquifers through the shallower ones to the ground
surface. This condition also exists in the Los Angeles Forebay Area, but the
paving of this area has essentially eliminated surface recharge to the aquifer be
low. (California DW R 1961, 173)
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The importance of direct recharge and the link to the “upstream” is crucial to water
storage in the coastal basin.
Like the neighboring LAC-CP, permeable and impermeable zones separate a
number of independent aquifer systems that occur within the OC-CP. The upper aquifer
reaches a maximum depth o f 1500 feet, the middle aquifer ranges from 1300 to 2600
feet and the lower aquifer ranges from 2600 to 4000 feet. Recharge sources include
precipitation, runoff and subsurface transfers with the LAC-CP. The CPOC is supplied
with runoff water from the San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Ana Mountains, the
Santa River, direct replenishment from precipitation, and artificial recharge.
The reservoir
The LA M Z reservoir consists o f a sloping series o f interior valleys and coastal
plains leading toward the Pacific Ocean. Defining boundaries include a series of
mountain ranges that predominately run north to south with one range running from
west to east. Amongst these mountains, the highest ranges are the San Gabriels, Santa
Susanas, San Bernardinos, San Jacinto, Santa Rosas, Santa Anas and Lagunas. These
mountains average 5000-8000 feet above seal level (asl) but some peaks reach 11,000
feet asl (California DWR, 1998). The other major defining range, the Santa Monicas,
runs from the northwest toward southeast. This range presents an impermeable barrier
between the SFVB and the LAC-CP. The interior valleys and coastal plains contain a
few highlands that surface and subsurface water flows bypass during movement.
Connected by two critical impasses at the Los Angeles and Whittier Narrows,
the net effect o f the geographic conditions is a hydrogeologic link between the
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‘‘upstream” MSGB and the “downstream” LAC-CP. Through these impasses, it is
accepted that groundwater flows along with surface water flows traverse from the
MSGB into the coastal plain.
During the twentieth-century, large-scale pumping along both coastal plains,
reversed the hydraulic pressure and groundwater levels fell below sea level. This
resulted in the loss of natural springs in towns such as Santa Fe Springs, Fountain
Valley and Artesia. A second problem stemming from over-drafting the aquifers in the
coastal plains is sea-water intrusion, a source of groundwater contamination. Under
natural conditions, groundwater exceeding aquifer capacity flowed out to sea. Under
the prevailing overdraft condition established in the twentieth-century, salt water from
the Pacific Ocean is flowing inland to fill the voids left by groundwater production.
The inputs and outputs
The Basin’s semi-arid climatic conditions yield a stringent local water budget.
The main natural inputs are precipitation, runoff, surface and subsurface flows. Natural
inputs do not meet the prevailing water demands in the LAM Z. Since the beginning of
the twentieth century, water appropriation projects preceded major LA M Z development
spurts. Today, Los Angeles County is reliant on water inputs appropriated from
external watersheds for as much as 50 per cent of its water supply. Three major
aqueducts provide most o f the LA M Z imported water supplies including: (1) the Los
Angeles Aqueduct (LAA), (2) the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA), and (3) the State
Water Project (SWP). Progressively, the mix o f water inputs is shifting away from
imported water toward internal supplies. This shift is complemented by water
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conservation, recycling, and optimization practices such as artificial recharge. Under
the prevailing conditions, appropriated water from external watersheds remains the
largest source of water supplies for Los Angeles County but Orange County relies on
groundwater for approximately 80 per cent o f its supply.
In the semi-arid region, average annual temperature is 60° F and precipitation is
sparse, limited to the winter months. Average rainfall in the three-groundwater basins
in Los Angeles County is (1) 16.5 inches in the SFVB, (2) approximately 18.5 inches at
the floor and 40 inches in the mountains in the MSGB and (3) 15 inches in the LAC-CP
(Blomquist, 1992). Drought conditions often undermine this limited water delivery. In
general, temperatures tend to fluctuate with respect to seasonality and drought
conditions. Winter temperatures range from (48.9°-67.7° F) in January while summer
temperatures range from (64.6°-84.6° F) in July.
Four major rivers and their tributaries provide the principle surface flows.
These rivers include (1) the Los Angeles River, (2) the San Gabriel, (3) the Rio Hondo
and (4) the Santa Ana River (Blomquist, 1992). Tributaries include slow running
creeks, and washes (ephemeral rivers) that either run underground or remain dry until
winter rainstorms fill the riverbeds. Surface water resources contribute about 10 per
cent of the local water supplies. The M W D describes the significance o f recharge in
three o f these rivers:
For example, the San Gabriel and Santa rivers capture over 80 percent o f all
runoff in their watersheds. The Los Angeles River system, however, is not as
efficient in capturing its runoff. In its upper reaches, which make up 25 percent
o f the watershed, most runoff is captured with recharge facilities. But in its
lower reaches, comprising the other 75 percent of the watershed, the river and its
tributaries are lined and there are no recharge facilities (California Metropolitan
Water District of Sourhem California [California MW D] 1995, 60).
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Although these water supplies contribute to local recharge, the practice of
straightening, channelizing and lining Basin rivers with cement boundaries and stone
foundations reduces the natural interaction and subsequently less subsurface
replenishment. Artificial recharge is progressively emerging as a supplement. Water
sources contributing to artificial recharge include imported water from the LAA, CRA
and SWP, runoff, and recycled water (Nellor, Baird, and Smyth, 1984). In general,
recycled (jreclaimed) water produced from municipal wastewater or storm water is
treated at reclamation plants. The reclaimed effluent is then purchased for delivery to
spreading ponds, injection wells or discharged into output conduits such as the Los
Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers.
For example, the Rio Hondo spreading grounds, a 500-acre permeable zone set
aside for artificial replenishment utilizes recycled water from the Whittier Narrows
Water Recycling Plant. Since 1952, the West and Central Basins within the LAC-CP
purchased 3,893,343 acre-feet of imported water for spreading and 1,341,900 acre-feet
for injection (California Water Replenishment District of Southern California
[California W RD], 2000). In Orange County, a pilot program is in place to determine
the viability of recharging the aquifers with recycled water. Waste-water treated by the
Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) to secondary levels is purchased and treated
to tertiary levels by the Orange County Water District (OCWD). The tertiary treated
effluent is recharged back into the subsurface. Through this innovative water-recycling
program, less water is discharged diminishing the requirement for imported water inputs
and outputs. I f successful, implementation of the complete program is designed to
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recharge 130,000 acre-feet per year by 2020. Despite the sustainable effect of artificial
recharge, public resistance still thwarts some programs. The potential for health effects
associated with recharge undermines public approval and support.
In order to determine the long-range health effects of artificial recharge in Los
Angeles County, an epidemiologic assessment was commissioned by the Water
Replenishment District of Southern California (W RD). During a 30-year period,
artificial recharge with recycled water in the Montebello Forebay o f the LAC-CP
increased from 12,000 acre-feet per year in 1962 up to 50,000 acre-feet per year in the
1980s. The assessment addressed the health effects on Los Angeles County residents
who consumed groundwater recharged with reclaimed water to residents who consumed
groundwater not recharged with reclaimed water. The assessment findings indicated
few differences in the health effects between the study groups (Sloss et al. 1996). The
researchers determine that:
The epidemiologic study concludes that almost 30 years after groundwater re
charge with some reclaimed water began, the rates o f cancer, mortality, and in
fectious diseases are similar in the area of Los Angeles County receiving some
reclaimed water and a control area not receiving any reclaimed water. Rates of
these health outcomes are also similar in areas receiving higher and lower per
centages of reclaimed water. (Sloss et al. 1996, 81-2)
This assessment provides an increased measure o f confidence that artificial recharge is a
viable solution to optimize the limited local water budget.
Presently, imported water from the CRA and SWP is roughly 1.1 million acre-
feet (maf) while local water supplies from the LAA, surface water and groundwater is
also about 1.1 maf. These figures include 50,000 acre-feet of recycled water
replenishment in the LAC-CP, 110,000 acre-feet of Santa Ana River recharge in the
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OC-CP and 120,000 acre-feet of MWD water replenishment (California MW D, 1996).
Owing to the methods of calculating, internal and external supplies, local water supplies
are less than the suggested 50 per cent balance. The water supplies located 250 miles to
the north are considered part o f the local water supply. Under the current production,
the sustainability of the local aquifers is achieved with a high degree o f anthropogenic
intervention.
Subsurface flows and the interchange of water between the myriad of aquifers
within the MSGB and LAC-CP follow gravity and conduits shaped by the stratigraphy
(California DWR, 1961; Blomquist, 1992). This subsurface flow is a significant input
to coastal plain basins. The CDW R describes the dynamics:
Under present conditions, ground water in the Montebello Forebay Area moves
into the Los Angeles Forebay Area, the Whittier Area, and the Central Basin
Pressure Area. Ground water from the Los Angeles Forebay also moves into the
Central Basin Pressure Area. In the northern portion o f the pressure area a
ground water mound exists which separates ground water movement into two
parts. North o f this mound ground water moves northward into the Hollywood
Basin while south o f this mound ground water moves southwesterly toward the
West Coast Basin (California DW R 1961, 175).
Under these hydrogeologic conditions, the pressure zone covered with an impermeable
clay layer is almost completely reliant on the subsurface flow from the non-pressure
zone for replenishment. Progressively, the non-pressure zone is reliant on this
subsurface flow as urban surfaces such as pavement and concrete diminish direct
recharge (Blomquist, 1992).
Outputs of water are broadly categorized as natural surface and subsurface flows
and wastewater. Wastewater plants such as the Hyperion Waste Water Treatment Plant
treat wastewater to secondary levels. The treated effluent is discharged into the major
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river channels or several miles offshore via submarine outfall pipes. These outputs
provide a means to transfer treated waste to the ocean. In summary, waste water flows
receive a high level o f treatment but the occurrence o f non-point discharges,
unpermitted discharges, elevated total maximum contamination levels and the
deliberate, occasional release of raw waste water in the LAM Z outputs remain sources
of contamination that degrade the coastal zone.
The Human Variable
In the twentieth century, water policies and programs that overcome local water
scarcity preceded the LA M Z development. These successful water strategies enabled
development objectives that lead to increased growth. The nexus between the
expansion o f the local water budget and urbanization also led to significant water
quality impacts from the industrial sector.
Twentieth Century Imprint
Enduring approximately 100 years of intensive development, local water sup
plies incurred significant qualitative and quantitative impacts. The quantitative impacts
are more obvious because of the construction o f water delivery infrastructure and the
availability of water. Meanwhile, qualitative impacts have been latent introducing a
potential insidious component to local water resources.
Up to the twentieth century, the local water budget remained unchanged: hy
draulic pressure produced springs for local water supplies. However, with the
American dominion in the latter half of the nineteenth century, city founding fathers,
elites and political leaders set forth development plans that included channeling the
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prevailing surface waters to assemble a water delivery system. The initial water
delivery system was substandard. The need for improving and expanding the local
water supply network was apparent. By the beginning of the twentieth century, city
elites and water authorities such as William Mulholland were developing plans to
expand local water supplies through groundwater production and water import projects.
Expanding the local water budget was a paramount mission for twentieth-century
development proponents.
Artesian wells were abundant in the early part o f the twentieth-century and the
first pumping wells were operational in the LA M Z by 1908. Nelson quantifies the
pumping wells in the LAMZ: “In 1910 there were 1,596 artesian wells in the area. In
that same year, spurred by the invention o f the deep well turbine pump, there were also
3,494 pumped wells operating” (Nelson 1983, 74). Groundwater provided relief to
scant surface water supplies but the opportunity to fulfill city founders’ development
objectives was associated with the more abundant external water supplies.
The 1913 completion of the LA A initiated an era of water appropriation.
Throughout the twentieth-century, the LA M Z progressively became reliant on three
water appropriation projects including: (1) the LA A , (2) the CRA and (3) the SWP.
Urban development plans were propelled by the expansion of the local water budget.
Bypassing local water scarcity, twentieth-century development proponents achieved a
nearly impossible task by establishing the LAM Z as a bona fide megacity with
international political and economic standing.
By the middle of the twentieth-century, urban growth including support indus
tries to military bases and emerging aerospace industries centralized into technopoles.
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A business friendly environment attracted industries that established operations
throughout the LAMZ. Unregulated industrial operations within the LAM Z resulted in
widespread contamination affecting numerous aquifer supplies. By the 1980s,
widespread water quality threats were discovered in the Basin presenting a new
challenge to water management.
Water management themes
At present, LA M Z water supplies are challenged by quantitative threats includ
ing: (1) legislative and political shifts that curtail LAM Z reliance on imported inputs of
water, (2) urban surface covers diminishing the recharge to the local aquifers, and
(3) many of the production aquifers are in overdraft. While these quantitative
challenges occur, urban growth and water demand are growing. These conditions skew
the water budget placing great strain on water managers and purveyors to identify
innovative technologies, policies and programs to offset the imbalance. The semi-arid
setting aggravated by frequent droughts necessitates provisions for water policies and
programs for both regular and drought years.
Urban demand
In 1994, Los Angeles County municipal and industrial demand was 1,573,000
acre-feet, while Orange County demand was 579,000 acre-feet (M W D, 1995). Based
upon the MW D data, total average annual water consumption in 1994 was recorded as
2,152,000 acre-feet per year for the LAM Z. This total has been as much as 2.6 million
acre-feet. In the LAM Z, water demand includes principally municipal and industrial
consumption and groundwater recharge. Within the LAM Z, local production includes
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surface water supplies, groundwater production and imported water from the LAA.
While import water comes from the CRA and SWP.
Groundwater exploitation
In the 1990s, groundwater production has ranged from 711,000 to 948,000 acre-
feet per year (California MW D, 1996). Groundwater production per year is based upon
1989 and 1990 figures that indicate the following: (1) the OC-CP produced 261,190
acre-feet, (2) the Central and West basins, the two largest groundwater basins within
the LAC-CP collectively produced 240,747 acre-feet, (3) the MSGB produced 256,667
acre-feet and (4) the SFVB produced 86,898 acre-feet (Blomquist, 1992). Although
other smaller groundwater basins exist in the Basin, the contributions are negligible.
For example, the Raymond Basin produced 30,459 acre-feet in 1990 (Blomquist, 1992).
In general, many of the Basin aquifers are in a historic overdraft condition that
requires accurate accounting and management to restore the water supplies.
Groundwater pumping has reversed the hydraulic pressure. Regular overdraft
conditions resulted in meeting water demand yet aggravate the integrity of the aquifers.
The historic overdraft for the Central Basin of the LAC-CP is described in California
DW R Bulletin 104: “Ground water storage depletion since 1904 is about 1,200,000
acre-feet and the storage between historical high water levels which occurred in 1904
and sea level is about 1,600,000 acre-feet” (California DW R 1961, 122). Since the
publication of this Bulletin, the WRD, the Central Basin water management agency has
accepted this figure as a baseline. In response, the WRD has initiated plans that
progressively reduce the deficit from the 1,200,000 acre-feet baseline to the prevailing
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682,026 acre-feet overdraft conditions (California WRD, 2000). In summary, the
current recharge and production program have reduced the deficit by 514,974 acre-feet.
Under management, the West and Central Basins are returning to optimal conditions
that balance present land use and groundwater production. A complete reduction of the
overdraft status is not desirable, as it would raise the water table with the potential to
restore natural swamp conditions and increase the elevation of the saturated zone.
Raising the water table beyond desirable limits might undermine soil and structure
stability and subsequently the prevailing land use.
Subsidence
Despite overdraft conditions in the aquifers, subsidence has not emerged as a
major problem in the Basin.
Covering the recharge zones
Much o f the coastal plains and interior valleys in the LAM Z are developed.
Urban surfacing such as concrete and pavement are covering natural surfaces composed
o f permeable formations. Within the LAC-CP, extensive urban surfacing covers the
permeable surface layer reducing recharge in the non-pressure zone. This dynamic is a
threat to the recharge zones. Blomquist identifies the impact:
Urbanization left the Los Angeles Forebay paved over and the Los Angeles
River channel lined with concrete, eliminating one o f the two major recharge
zones for Central Basin aquifers and one o f the two main stream channels
through which water might percolate underground. With the development of the
San Gabriel Valley upstream from Central Basin, there was also less water flow
ing out o f the valley into the Montebello Forebay, the other important recharge
zone for Central Basin aquifers. (Blomquist 1992, 127; 129)
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Progressively, these conditions diminish replenishment by undermining the contact
between recharge sources and permeable surface formations.
Output expansion
As subsurface outputs have been reversed by saltwater intrusion, the chief out
puts remain the rivers and submarine outfall pipes that discharge into the Pacific Ocean.
When necessaiy, outfall pipes are extended to discharge secondary treated waste further
away from the coastline. At present, the practice of discharging treated effluent into the
ocean is being reconsidered. Water destined for discharge is now being considered for
recycling and artificial recharge.
External reservoir exploitation
Through water appropriation projects and innovative water policies, the LAM Z
has met water demand and development requirements. The three major water
appropriation projects include (1) the LAA, (1) the CRA and, (3) the SWP. Remiss
these aqueducts, the LAMZ would have had insufficient water for its twentieth-century
development spurts.
The Los Angeles Aqueduct (LAA). Completed in 1913, the LA A is the most
infamous o f the LA M Z water appropriation projects. The original aqueduct stretched to
the Owens Valley. The final aqueduct system entailed diverting water from the Owens
Valley and later Mono Lake via an extension to the original aqueduct. Imported water
from the Owens Valley travels 250 miles while water from Mono Lake travels 338
miles. The LAA is owned and operated by the Los Angeles Department o f Water and
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Power (LA DWP), a public agency that delivers water to the City o f Los Angeles. The
imported LAA waters divided between direct consumption and recharge into the SFVB.
The annual carrying capacity of the entire network has been as high as 550,000 acre-
feet yet delivery o f supply 400,000 acre-feet has been the annual average (California
DWR, 1998). However, recent litigation has reduced the allowable annual deliveries to
as little as 100,000 acre-feet. These reductions will remain in effect until Mono Lake is
restored to court-ordained levels.
The Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA). Completed in 1941, the CRA is the most
politically charged water appropriation project in the American southwest. The CRA
traverses 242 miles and imported water from the CRA is blended with SWP providing a
combined annual estimate of 1.1 million acre-feet to the LA M Z (California MW D,
1995). In California, the Metropolitan Water District o f Southern California (M W D ), a
public agency, was established to manage and contract with local member agencies for
CRA water purchases.
The CRA is part of the Colorado River Compact involving seven American
states and northern Mexico. Semi-arid conditions and urban growth for the Colorado
River Basin stakeholders promote a highly competitive forum for water rights to this
shared watershed. Under the original Colorado River Compact agreements, California
was guaranteed access to 4.4 million acre-feet per year (mafryr) but actual withdrawals
are presently on the order o f 5.2 maf/yr: surplus and unapportioned water from the
Colorado River account for the excess consumption. In a landmark United States
Supreme Court case, Arizona v. California, the foundation was set for overturning the
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unprecedented allotments and agreements pertaining to surplus and unapportioned
water that favored California and subsequently the LAMZ.
The State Water Project (SWP). Completed in 1973, the State Water Project
(SWP) delivers water resources from the delta area in northern California. The SWP
contracts with six local agencies from the South Coast Hydrologic Region. The largest
o f these agencies is the MW D. Managed by MW D, imported SWP water flows from an
East and West Branch into the LA M Z and is blended with CRA water prior to delivery.
The SWP has a large entitlement to SWP water that might provide relief to South Coast
consumers including LAM Z consumers yet competition for delta area water may
undermine this relief.
Water quality themes
The prevailing hydraulic pressure and subsurface flows provide a medium for
surface and subsurface contamination sources to spread throughout the Basin.
Groundwater is a significant local water supply and vulnerability to contamination
mandates regulatoiy and monitoring oversight by adjudicated and self-determined water
management agencies. Each management agency is responsible for testing and
monitoring drinking water supplies for contamination that might affect production wells
in their respective jurisdictions. Water management authorities such as the Upper Los
Angeles River Area (ULARA) Watermaster and the California DW R set operational
safe yields and coordinate water quality with the regulatory agencies and the
Department o f Health. Additionally, regulatory agencies such as the California
Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) are responsible for directing and
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enforcing site assessment and remediation. The RWQCB identifies a host of potential
sources o f groundwater contamination including: sewer leaks, above and underground
tanks, chemical spills, clarifiers, underground piping, vapor degreasers, landfills, paint
booths, septic tanks, leachfields, cesspools, toxic pits, contaminated run-off, illegal or
unpermitted disposal or dumping, and any structure containing and/or transporting
chemical wastes (California LA RWQCB, 1996). Under a joint water quality objective,
a legally mandated cooperative framework and regular communications exists between
regulatory and management agencies. Both water quality and production bureaus have
identified contamination levels that forced the closure of a number o f production wells
within their respective basins. An additional problem for water production agencies
includes water quality degradation from sea-water intrusion. In an effort to contain the
saltwater plumes, tertiary-treated wastewater is injected into the subsurface as a barrier
to the sea-water.
Subsurface field studies
California’s hydrologic and geologic cycles are very well studied. Long-range
planning for regular and drought year conditions hinge on access to qualified and
complete hydrogeologic information. Production and storage capacity are carefully
studied, monitored, and managed. A number o f water agencies including the CDWR
investigate and produce public studies pertaining to hydrogeologic attributes throughout
the state.
Within the LAMZ, the LAC-CP is the best-studied groundwater basin group and
provides a model for other groundwater basins experiencing local water quality and
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quantity challenges. The CDWR Bulletin 104. Planned Utilization o f the Ground
Water Basins o f the Coastal Plain o f Los Angeles County details the specific geographic
and hydrogeologic attributes (California DWR 1961).
The LAC-CP is the product of periods o f deformation, deposition of sediments,
sea level changes and erosion. The interactions of geologic shifts, sea level changes,
stream deposition and erosion account for a variable stratigraphy. These hydrogeologic
conditions resulted in a number of independent aquifer systems that occur at various
depths throughout the LAC-CP Additionally, the LAC-CP has been subdivided into
four significant groundwater basins including (1) Central Basin, (2) West Basin,
(3) Hollywood Basin and (4) Santa Monica Basin. Only the Central Basin is part o f the
non-pressure zone making it fit for direct recharge. The other three groundwater basins
are part of the pressure zone that is blocked from direct recharge.
Seismic activity resulted in folding and faulting that formed upthrown and
downdropped blocks. Highland areas composed of impermeable rocks form defining
limits for the flow of water and the occurrence of groundwater basins. Independent of
geologic shifts, sea level withdrew and advanced a number of times during the
Pleistocene epoch (approximately 1,000,000 years ago). Glaciation occurred at least
four times during this epoch causing sea level fluctuations on the order o f400 feet.
Within the last 10,000 years, the finer sediments transported by streams became a
predominant feature. Alluvial deposits distributed by rivers and streams combined with
marine sediments to form the interior valleys and coastal plains. Along the coastal
plains, seismic activity folded and shaped beach sands into alluvial fans.
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Within the valleys and coastal plains, the water bearing sediments consist of
unconsolidated and semi-consolidated marine and nonmarine alluvial sediments. These
sediments are derived from non-water bearing parent rocks of the Recent, Pleistocene
and Pliocene Age. Permeable zones (aquifers) o f coarse sands and gravels form
migration passages for groundwater movement and storage. Impermeable zones
(aquitards) composed of finer sands, silts and clays form the confining limits of the
aquifers. With appropriate pressure gradients, the LAC-CP natural hydrogeologic
attributes provide passages for the exchange of groundwater between aquifers. The
CDW R identifies the dynamics:
The main surface and subsurface flow into the basin is through Los Angeles and
Whittier Narrows from the groundwater basins in the interior valleys. However,
minor subsurface flow probably enters the area from the bordering relatively
impermeable formation, and some subsurface flow can take place from the other
surrounding ground water basins.
Replenishment o f the aquifers by percolation o f precipitation, stream
flow, and applied water occurs in the forebay areas where permeable sediments
are exposed at ground surface. (California DW R 1961, 172)
However, geologic shifts, unconformities and variations in the composition of the
impermeable layers due to groundwater withdrawals affect the flow and storage
capacity (California DWR, 1961).
Sources of contamination
In the 1980s, it was discovered that twentieth-century operations of the vast in
dustrial complex in the LA M Z presented significant and widespread contamination
risks to the Basin’s interconnected water supply network. In general, focal sources of
contamination occur around technopoles while contamination sources associated with
business operations of underground storage tanks and hazardous chemicals are widely
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distributed. This distribution poses a large-scale water quality challenge that includes
identified and potential contamination sources. For example, the technopoles that
developed around the military and aerospace industries present focal points for some of
the most significant contamination in the LAMZ. In particular, contamination plumes
stemming from unregulated business operations involving volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) have been identified in the MSGB and SFVB. Unfortunately, this contamina
tion is spreading in the form o f a large plume. The CDW R identifies the potential for
the migration of contamination from the South El Monte area of the SGVB to pass
through the Whittier Narrows and enter the Central Basin (California DWR, 1998).
Along this pathway, the ground water passes into the Los Angeles River and through a
number o f aquifers that are heavily utilized for water production. Another major case
exists in the SFVB. The CDW R indicates that: “About 50% o f the water supply wells
in the eastern portion of the San Fernando Basin were found to be contaminated from
volatile organic compounds. Many of the wells have been shut down” (California
DW R 1998, Ch 7-60). These cases were deemed such contamination risks that they
were declared as national Superfund cleanup cases. The CDW R points out this finding:
Groundwater contamination in the San Gabriel Valley and San Fernando Valley
Basins has come from many sources dating back to the 1940s. Each basin has
four areas on EPA’s Superfund list.
More than 30 square miles of groundwater under the San Gabriel Valley
Basin may be contaminated. Contamination from volatile organic compounds
was first detected in 1979 when Aerojet Electrosystems in Azusa sampled
nearby wells in Valley County Water District. (California DW R 1998, Ch 7-60)
Under the Superfund classification, these basins are placed under the national priority
listing and the cleanup protocol includes a legally mandated, cooperative agreement
between the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), a federal
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environmental agency, and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, a
regional regulatory agency.
Air borne threats. Although good studies about the combination of smog con
taminants with precipitation are not prevalent, precipitation is considered to be a
negligible source of contamination to surface and subsurface water resources. In the
LAM Z, air pollution is a chronic problem owing to the significant number o f stationary
and vehicular emission sources. This air pollution tends to build each day but
diminishes at night when most of the sources are non-operational. An off- shore breeze
tends to dissipate the smog and transports it inland along an eastward direction. In
general, the residence time of smog contaminants within the LAM Z is not extensive so
delivery to the floor via precipitation is not considered a major source o f contamination
for the geologic and hydrologic cycles. However, recent research o f methyl tertiary
butyl ether (M TB E) indicate that this soluble, oxygenate might be a candidate to return
to the floor via precipitation (Hutcheon et al., 1996).
Drainage channels. Most consumed water is degraded and then treated to sec
ondary standards. Treated wastewater and runoff is transported into storm drain
conduits, concrete-lined rivers, and submarine outfall pipes. However, unpermitted
point source discharges and non-point source contaminants continue to contribute
contamination loads that can exceed total maximum permissible limits. Even as these
threats directly affect the coastal zone, the risk is less to the Basin’s local water
supplies.
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Industrial sources. After World War II, aircraft and later missile technology
operations followed exponential growth paths that established the LAM Z as an
aerospace mecca. At present, the LAM Z hosts one o f the most elaborate industrial
complexes in the world. Aerospace, military bases, metal manufacturing and finishing,
tire and petroleum production are representative of the industries that dominate the
LAM Z industrial complex. For decades, business establishments within these industries
operated without regulation discharging contaminants into the Basin floor.
In particular, the development, testing and operation o f aerospace and high tech
nology products entailed the utilization of industrial chemicals such as the chlorinated
solvents trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PGE). These solvents have
been identified in high concentrations within Basin aquifers. The Upper Los Angeles
River Area (ULARA) Watermaster underscores the contamination concentrations in the
SFVB and the “downstream” impacts:
The Burbank OU appears to contain the >5,000 pg/L TCE and PCE plumes and
a portion of the 1,000-5,000 pg/L TCE and PCE plumes. The uncaptured
portion of these plumes will migrate in the direction of the Los Angeles Narrows
area (southeasterly) and towards the Glendale OU and Headworks wells.
(California Upper Los Angeles River Area Watermaster [California ULARA]
1998, 26)
At present, maximum permissible limits for TCE and PCE are 5 pg/L (ppb). By
comparison, the contamination found in the Burbank Operable Unit in the SGVB is on
the order of one thousand times greater. Impacts to the “downstream” aquifers are
anticipated.
Outside the technopoles, sources of TCE and PCE contamination exist. These
chlorinated solvents are known carcinogens typically used in operations such as dry
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cleaning, degreasing and paint removal. Historically, unregulated operations such as
dry cleaners utilized these solvents and often disposal consisted o f dumping the used
solvent into the storm drain or sink. The Regional Water Quality Control Board
identifies the pervasive and insidious migration potential for chlorinated solvents:
Being heavier than water, PCE settles to the bottom of the sewer line and ex-
filitrates through it. This liquid can leak through joints and cracks in the line.
PCE, being volatile, also turns into gas and penetrates the sewer wall. Sewer
lines are not designed to contain gas. The PCE then travels through the vadose
zone to the groundwater (California Regional Water Quality Control Board,
Central Valley Region [California CV RWQCB] 1992, 2).
Small quantities o f these carcinogens can threaten groundwater sources.
The water quality experiences in the Los Angeles Basin indicate that other
sources o f contamination contribute as well to the groundwater pollution in the regional
aquifers. Water quality experts have identified underground storage tanks (USTs) at
manufacturing and gasoline service stations as potential sources o f contamination. The
LA RWQCB makes this point apparent:
In areas with industrial and commercial activities, aboveground and
underground storage tanks contain vast quantities of hazardous substances.
Thousands o f these tanks in the Region have leaked or are leaking,
discharging petroleum fuels, solvents, and other hazardous substances
into the subsurface. These leaks as well as other discharges to the
subsurface that result from inadequate handling, storage, and disposal
practices can seep into the subsurface and pollute ground water.
(California LA RWQCB 1994, 1-19:1-21)
Associated with gasoline service stations, leaking underground storage tanks,
pose sources o f benzene, toluene, ethylbenze and xylene (B TEX) and methyl tertiary
butyl ether (M TBE), contamination with the potential to spread. BTEX components are
known carcinogens and a well-established assessment and remediation program is in
place to address the threat. Presently, the LA RWQCB is at the forefront o f California’s
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statewide endeavor to contain and curtail MTBE contamination. MTBE is also
identified as an environmental risk due to its high solubility and pervasive characteris
tics. Long-term dosage exposure to M TBE is known to cause cancer in rats and mice
but this is not sufficient to declare M TBE as a human carcinogen (Beatson, 2000).
Hutcheon and colleagues point out that exposure to MTBE contamination from water
supplies contaminated by leaking underground storage tanks, fallout from precipitation
and runoff is possible (Hutcheon et al., 1996). Based upon the wide-scale potential for
M TB E contamination to California’s water supplies, the State o f California governor
issued an order phasing out the use o f M TBE by 2002.
Potential and actual sources o f contamination. In the LAM Z, landfills are seg
regated between hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. Hazardous landfills are now
lined and thus are contained sources of contamination. Moisture in these landfills is
removed to diminish mixing with any contaminants in the landfills.
The significance of groundwater to Los Angeles and California has heightened
the regulation of actual and potential sources o f contamination. Actual sources of
contamination are addressed with a phased approach that includes complete assessment
followed by remediation. Potential sources o f contamination are regulated to ensure
proper disposal of chemicals. The concentration of sources provides identifiable zones
to be targeted for assessment and remediation efforts. However, the hydrogeologic
interactions within the Basin provide a pathway for spreading the released chemical
plumes.
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Concluding Remarks
In the American southwest, semi-arid climatic conditions, expanding urban de
mand and scarce local water supplies generate a competitive arena for water resources
that mandate proactive policies, cooperative programs and innovative technologies to
address persistent water challenges. Potential contamination from “upstream” basins
and sea-water intrusion due to extensive groundwater pumping degrade the Basin’s
local water resources. Coupled with the scheduled reductions o f CRA imported water,
burgeoning urban growth is expanding water consumption while the water budget is
scheduled to diminish. Meeting the Basin’s water quality and quantity challenges
requires proactive, innovative planning and action. Qualified shared information is an
important component that contributes to successful policies and programs. This
approach entails planning action prior to the system’s requirement. In this regard, water
quality and management agencies have begun to address historic as well as potential
sources of contamination. This approach generates a comprehensive effort to prevent
large-scale contamination from identified sources and identify unknown sources.
Hydrogeology Comparison
The preceding sections provided a macro-scale description o f some major hy
drogeologic variables common to the M C M Z and the LAMZ and this section compares
some of these variables. The macro-scale variables considered in the section include:
(1) the reservoirs and inputs, (2) water quality themes, (3) water management themes
and (4) available data. Some of the units considered such as rain fall and water supply
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volumes, water supply flows and altitude are based upon different units and thus
converted for standardization. (See Appendix B, table 16).
Although the micro-scale details differ, the macro-scale variables display a
number o f common themes. Common themes include (1) the high reliance on
groundwater resources, (2) the significant presence of industry, (3) seasonal
precipitation and (4) local water scarcity in proportion to demand. Differences include
(1) uniform versus variable geologic horizons, (2) confined versus unconfined
hydrologic region, and (3) the availability o f scientific data regarding the hydrogeologic
attributes. Without the latter, political and institutional policy makers are forced to
provide solutions to water challenges remiss a comprehensive scientific foundation.
This provides a blueprint for mismanagement that has been a common problem for the
M CM Z. Progressively, Mexico City’s pending water crisis associated with burgeoning
consumption and weak national economy accentuate the margin for error in water
policy making. As the LAM Z is well advanced at addressing similar challenges, the
M C M Z may benefit from open access to its scientific body of knowledge pertaining to
the Basin with particular relevance to the successful policies based upon this
information.
The Reservoir and Inputs
The watershed model for both metropolitan zones includes a network of surface
water resources, groundwater basins defined by the geographic features and geologic
formations Precipitation is seasonal and local water resources are a major source of
metropolitan drinking water. Despite the input of supplemental imported water
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supplies, local water scarcity relative to demand remains a common challenge.
Additionally, the large presence o f industry in centralized sectors poses a potential
source o f contamination that may degrade groundwater supplies. Within this broad
interpretation, many specific differences exist pertaining to the respective reservoirs,
inputs and outputs. Yet, the management and mismanagement o f common hydro
geologic attributes under the unique conditions o f each watershed provides a basis for
comparison.
The reservoir
The details of each reservoir exhibit more differences than similarities. Almost
completely enclosed by a ring o f mountains reaching 3500 M (11,483 feet), the Valley
floor resides at 2200 M (7218 feet) and is generally flat with some internal highlands.
Based upon the best available date, the Valley reservoir provides containment for water
inputs. It appears that the Valley o f Mexico is perceived to compose one basin: little
data exists pertaining to sub basins and the movement of groundwater amongst the
individual aquifers o f the Mexico City Aquifer. Defined by mountains ranges and open
along the Pacific Coast, the Los Angeles Basin floor slopes from 0-500 feet (0-152 M ).
Within the Basin, the initial stage o f the reservoir is a sloping landmass composed of
interior valleys that lead toward the coastal plains and finally the Pacific Ocean. Some
surface and subsurface water is confined within lakes and isolated aquifers but the
potential for migration through the watershed is well documented (California DWR,
1961)
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In the M CM Z, the geologic composition might be described as uniform with
thick contiguous layers of clay, volcanic alluvium and basalt (NRC, 1995; Mosser,
1996; Ezcurra et al. 1999). Recent academic studies may overturn the conventional
wisdom concerning the impermeability o f the clay aquitard (Mackay, Roberts and
Cherry, 1985; Durazo and Farvolden, 1989; Ortega-Guerrero and Farvolden, 1989;
Ortega-Guerrero, Cherry and Rudolph, 1993; Mazari and Mackay, 1993; Mazari-
Hiriart, Torres-Baeristain et al, 1999; Mazari-Hiriart, Hernandez-Eugenio et al, 2000).
These published studies indicate that the aquitard may be fractured and collectively
support the belief that sustained migration of contaminants may saturate the aquitard
allowing progressive yet retarded migration through the clay layer. Despite these
studies, full-scale regulation of potential pollution sources and monitoring are irregular.
In the LAM Z, the geologic composition includes variable mixtures o f sand, al
luvial silt and clay. Conventional wisdom accepts that groundwater movement is
common. Contamination in the Basin is anticipated to spread elevating the need for
regulation.
In general, the subsurface occurrence and flows are better studied in the LAM Z.
Despite the large-scale residence o f business establishments in the northern part of the
M CM Z, little information pertaining to contaminated subsurface flows or surface
wastewater transfer exists. Likewise, the hydrogeologic characteristics and interaction
between the major production aquifers in the Valley are remiss. Without this
information, water institutions cannot adequately identify potential problems nor make
provisions for appropriate solutions. What is worse, the problems are suspected but
ignored: the political culture tends to thwart reform initiatives.
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The inputs
The major categories of inputs fall under the rubrics o f natural and anthropo
genic. Natural inputs include precipitation, run off, surface and subsurface flows.
Anthropogenic inputs include water import projects and artificial recharge. Both
megacities rely on natural inputs for recharge but the LA M Z has established programs
that include artificial recharge.
In both metropolitan zones, precipitation is seasonal providing a large propor
tion o f the local water supplies. In the M C M Z, precipitation averages around 650 mm
(25.5 inches) on the floor and as much as 1500 mm (59.1 inches) in the mountains. At
present, water appropriation projects in the Lerma and Cutzamala Basins provide
supplemental flows o f 19.5 m3 /s (498,348 acre-feet per year). In the LAM Z, average
precipitation in the interior valleys and coastal plains ranges from 10-15 inches (254-
381 mm) while the levels in the mountains range from 20-45 inches (508-1143 mm).
Beneficial anthropogenic inputs are not currently part o f the M C M Z water man
agement program while in the LA M Z the historical success of artificial recharge is well
documented. In the LAM Z, the water sources for this artificial recharge is on the order
of 280,000 acre-feet (11 m3 /s) o f which 57 per cent or 160,000 acre-feet (6.3 m3 /s) is
from imported supplies and the balance, 120,000 acre-feet (4.7 m3 /s) is from reclaimed
waste water and local rivers (California M W D, 1996). These inputs are an important
precursor to even larger-scale artificial recharge plans. For example, the OCWD plans
for a new artificial recharge with the capacity for recharging 130,000 acre-feet (5 m3 /s)
per year by 2020.
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Water Quality Themes
The commitment to water quality requires decision-makers to accept the con
tamination threat and enact the will to address sources of contamination that threaten
drinking water supplies. A water quality program operates most efficiently when it is
proactive: eliminating sources o f contamination at the source prior to degradation of
the hydrogeologic attributes. However, reform initiatives for water quality stem less
from proactive action to identified threats as from reactionary responses the results of
contamination such as health effects and catastrophic events.
In the M CM Z, the national environmental quality program is carried out by the
SEMARNAP. Definitive guidelines and appropriate staffing to assess and remediate
local ground water are insufficient. However, the water management institution, the
CNA, provides a four level potable water supply sampling approach. The battery of
sampling analysis includes Level A and Level 2A that focuses on common water
quality indicators such as temperature, turbidity, color and chlorides. Level 3 A includes
inorganic contaminants including mercury, lead and arsenic. When a site-specific
problem is suspected, Level 4A additionally tests for organic contaminants such as
PCE, TCE and MTBE. The National Resource Council indicates the frequency of these
tests: “The application percentages of these levels o f analysis in 1992 were 70 percent
A samples, 15 percent 2A samples, 10 percent 3 A samples, and 5 percent 4 A samples”
(NR.C 1995, 42). Unfortunately, the program provides infrequent coverage o f inorganic
and organic chemicals utilized in business operators.
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By the late 1990s, the initiation o f a national underground storage tank program
was connected with an explosion in a gasoline impacted sewer drain in Guadalajara.
However, the program is new and dedicated water quality institutions focusing on site-
specific cases with the objective to protect groundwater are just emerging. The
provisions to identify, monitor, and remediate site-specific cases are poorly communi
cated and enforced. Notably, the emerging water quality institutions are just beginning
to address M TBE contamination.
The efficacy of this program is further undermined by the presence o f same
38,000 business establishments. Many o f the industries in this industrial hub utilize
hazardous chemicals under lax environmental regulations and weak enforcement that
aggravates potential threats pertaining to the disposal of hazardous chemicals. The
potential migration o f industrial contamination through the impermeable lacustrine zone
via natural and anthropogenic fractures associated with the compacted geologic
horizons and persistent saturation is not yet addressed. Thus, pervasive chemicals such
as TCE, PCE and MTBE that are likely to reside and migrate through the subsurface for
decades.
In the LA M Z, groundwater production is threatened by site-specific cases cen
tered in the technopoles and more widely distributed cases involving gasoline service
stations and dry cleaners as well as non-point sources. The significance o f groundwater
as a vital resource initiated the need to protect the local water supplies from these
threats. Detailed studies of the Basin provide the basis for a sound approach to water
quality. The experiences in the LA M Z reveal that contamination migrates with
groundwater movement and even breaches impermeable zones. The capacity for
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groundwater contamination plumes to migrate with specific directional flow presents a
mechanism to expand the problem. The presence of biological, organic and inorganic
contamination poses a significant risk and provides the need for an organized regulatory
approach to water quality.
By the 1980s, the LAMZ established a comprehensive water quality program
that includes local water quality institutions. These institutions are charged with the
responsibility to address thousands o f site-specific cases associated with leaking
underground storage tanks and spills as well as potential contamination sources of
unknown origin. Beginning in the 1940s, the historic operations of LAM Z business
establishments introduced wide-scale contamination. The residence and migration of
pervasive contaminants such as TCE, PCE and MTBE have been identified. At present,
prevailing operations of approximately 26,000 business establishments operate within
enforced regulatory guidelines. However, on-going contamination adds to the historic
contamination leaks. Fortunately, the additions to the overall contamination are being
reduced by well-established regulatory programs and policies executed by empowered
water quality institutions. The dynamic investigative and interactive approach to Basin
contamination places the LAMZ water quality program in a vanguard position.
Water Management Themes
Expansion of the local water budget through water appropriation from external
watersheds is a signal of local water scarcity in proportion to demand. The LAMZ
encountered these circumstances in the beginning of the twentieth century and
completed the first of three aqueducts by 1913. The M CM Z encountered a similar
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status by the middle of the twentieth century and completed the first o f two aqueducts
by 1958. These water import projects are supplemental in the case o f the MCM Z but
are the main water supply in the LAMZ.
In the M CM Z, the complete water demand is roughly 63 m3 /s (1,609,932 acre-
feet per year) o f which 70 per cent, 43 .5 m3 /s (1,111,619 acre-feet per year) is from
local water supplies and the balance, 19.5 m3 /s (498,348 acre-feet per year) is from
external water supplies. Unfortunately, both local and external water production is
operated at unsustainable rates that undermine the long-term viability o f these water
resources. For example, local water supply production exceeds total recharge by 38 per
cent or 16.5 m3 /s (421,648 acre-feet per year). This significant overdraft condition
forces the CNA to abandon wells and install new wells in other sections of the Valley.
Via this approach, water production yields are maintained at high rates but at the
expense of incurring significant subsidence triggering potential qualitative and
quantitative degradation o f the aquifer storage capacity.
In the LAM Z, the complete 1994 water demand was 2,152,000 acre-feet (Cali
fornia M W D, 1995) (84 m3 /s) o f which approximately 1.1 million acre-feet (43 m3 /s) is
local supplies including imported supplies from the LAA and the balance is imported
water supplies from the CRA and the SWP. Based upon a number of political and legal
shifts, the former reliance on imported water supplies is an untenable option.
During the past forty years, rival stakeholders and interest groups have exerted
influence through legal and political mechanisms to diminish California and LAM Z
access to external water supplies. These challenges pose great difficulties for LAM Z
water managers as the reliance on external water supplies to meet demand has been
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disrupted. This also affects the aquifers as some imported water is accounted for in
groundwater recharge. For example, average groundwater withdrawals range from
700,000-900,000 acre-feet (27-35 m'Vs) of which 120,000 acre-feet per year of M W D
imported water supplies are recharged into the groundwater basins. In summary, the
water destined for recharge is also under the reduction directives.
Considering the persistent challenges that face the LAM Z water budget, water
managers require detailed analysis and accounting to meet the prevailing water demand.
Sustainable yields from the aquifers are achieved through water management programs
that set operational safe yields. Following the current programs, several basins
including the West and Central Basins within the LAC-CP have reduced their overdraft
conditions. Comparatively the M C M Z is overdrafting its aquifers by 38 per cent, this
strategy is rapidly diminishing the aquifers below sustainable yields and forcing
production wells to be closed. This condition signals a need for implementation of
alternative strategies that will reduce the pressure on the aquifers. Consideration of
additional external basins remains an option yet the prevailing economics and political
shift do not favor sustained reliance on external basins. Similarly, water transfers may
be undermined by the implementation and operation costs of delivery.
Even if the M CM Z implements new water appropriation projects, the costs al
ready outweigh the benefits as the pricing charged for water is heavily subsidized. The
conditions facing M CM Z water managers appear to point to the need for policies
different from the historic suite o f options.
Finally, the M CM Z water consumption is roughly 63 m3 /s (1,609,932 acre-feet
per year) while LAM Z water consumption is roughly 2,152,000 acre-feet (84 m3 /s).
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Considering that domestic consumers in the M CM Z exceed the LA M Z by more than 4
million and that industrial consumers in the M CM Z exceed the LAM Z by more than
14,000, Mexico City is operating with a water budget that is 542,068 acre-feet (21 m3 /s)
less than the LAM Z. Although the LAM Z water managers serve less domestic and
industrial consumers, the skewed water consumption translates into a positive 25 per
cent differential and a relative index o f 0.75. LAM Z water per capita consumption
exceeds M C M Z per capita by 45-68 per cent. It appears that the LA M Z investment in
conservation has provided the capacity for the LA M Z to continue to develop and fulfill
prevailing demand under conditions that deter new additions to the water budget. The
management of these conditions well into the future is a formula that other megacities
might observe and adopt.
Available Data
The availability of qualified hydrogeologic water quality and management data
empowers vested interest parties. Empowering a more diverse field o f interests with
details about the hydrogeology and water supply characteristics introduces nonpartisan
stakeholders to the system o f checks and balances. Furthermore, confidentiality tends
to impart a high degree o f distrust whereas open access instills public trust. Ultimately,
open access measures lead to a dynamic system that improves protection o f water
quality.
In the case of the M CM Z, confidentiality applies to public records and actual
activities taken to assess and remediate contamination. Access to data is considered a
privilege while confidentiality increases political control and eliminates unpredictable
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pressure from interest groups. With regard to the public interest and political control,
detailed hydrogeologic and contamination studies and reports are not accessible. Based
upon the available data, important gaps appear to exist in the scientific body of
knowledge pertaining to the Valley. Although the geology of the Valley is well
researched, research o f the hydrogeology is more difficult to obtain. Without qualified
and reliable studies and reports, policy makers, and environmental professionals as well
as the public operate under a veil o f ignorance.
In the LAM Z, water institutions generate or commission research that provides
details pertaining to the hydrogeologic attributes, contamination sources, potable water
withdrawals, and health effects. Based upon the Freedom o f Information Act, public
institutions by law must make provisions for public access o f research connected to
public funding. Access to this information holds water institutions more accountable
for their actions in serving the public interest and increases the level o f public trust.
In the case of the LAM Z, the body o f scientific knowledge concerning the Basin
hydrogeology is very advanced. Owing to semi-arid conditions and the large
metropolitan water demand, qualified research studies are precursors to the manage
ment and optimization of LAM Z water resources. Well documented hydrogeologic
studies include the CDWR volumes: (1) Planned Utilization o f the Ground Water
Basins o f the Coastal Plan o f Los Angeles County. Bulletin 104, (2) California’ s
Groundwater. Bulletin 118, and (3) California Water Plan. Bulletin 160 and The Water
Education Foundation and Montgomery Watson Americas, Inc., Groundwater and
Surface Water in Southern California. A Guide to Conjunctive Use, a report
commissioned by the Association of Ground Water Agencies (AGW A) (The Water
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Education Foundation and Montgomery Watson, 2000). The high quality and extensive
coverage o f information pertaining to the LAMZ water resources is a signal of the
LAM Z commitment to maintaining its public domain obligation and maintaining the
public trust.
Concluding Remarks
In the nineteenth century, the LA M Z emerged amongst water quantity threats
and by the 1980s faced significant water quality threats. During this period, the LA M Z
progressively implemented conservative and innovative measures to overcome
persistent water quantity threats. Later in the twentieth century, water quality emerged
a concern and the LAM Z responded with the implementation of an empowered water
quality program. Throughout this evolution, improved and extended research led to
well-calculated water management decisions pertaining local and external water
resources. By the time water quality challenges emerged, this body o f science provided
the foundation for developing regulatory strategies. The dynamic research continues to
precede water decision-making as is the case with California’s decision to phase out
M TBE by 2002.
Water quantity signals did not emerge in the M C M Z until the 1950s. By 1958,
the first water appropriation project was implemented and this supply was supple
mented in 1982 by a second project. While expanding the local water budget with
external water supplies, overdrafted groundwater resources were progressively pumped
at unsustainable rates. Groundwater production rates have exceeded recharge by 38 per
cent 16.5 m3 /s (421,648 acre-feet) per year. Even as water quality threats are becoming
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more obvious, initiatives to research and protect the Valley water resources are thwarted
by former PR! bureaucratic policies that may remain part of Mexico’s political legacy.
This hydrogeologic comparison identifies similarities and differences that might
be useful to the emerging water quality institutions in the MCM Z. By comparing
Mexico City’s 38,000 industries in 1980 to Los Angeles’ 24,000 industries in 1997, it
becomes apparent that similar potential contamination sources exist in both metropoli
tan zones. By comparing the water budgets and prevailing population with the per
capita consumption, it is possible to identify a macro-scale solution for the M CM Z.
The water budgets for each metropolitan zone differ by 25 per cent while the 1995
population only differs by 31 per cent. When considering the subsets o f the M CM Z
(the delegaciones and the rmmicipios) to the LA M Z (Los Angeles and Orange
Counties), per capita water consumption differs by 45-68 per cent. Owing to
investment in conservation, innovative approaches, and institutional management, the
LAM Z is able to maintain this level o f demand even with scheduled water withdrawal
reductions from external watersheds. Notably, the LA M Z water managers are at the
vanguard for artificial recharge initiatives. The evolution o f research and policy making
in the LA M Z provides an advanced perspective that the M CM Z might consider
applying to the Valley resources. Undoubtedly, micro-scale differences do exist but the
macro-scale variables and the successful strategies implemented in the LAM Z offer
insightful consideration for the M C M Z to initiate its own unique approaches.
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CHAPTER 3
PO LITICAL CULTURE
This chapter identifies the elements o f the political culture to establish a baseline
for comparison between the LA M Z and the M CM Z. With respect to the LAM Z,
increased political and legal pressure from significant western stakeholders that share
common water resources promotes a dynamic institutional framework that maximizes
water optimization and rights. The shift in the political culture of the American
southwest may portend a similar dynamic for the M CM Z. The case o f the growing city
o f Toluca, in the Lerma Basin is highly relevant. Following the progressive success of
opposition parties at the polls, it appears that Mexico may be undergoing the initial
phase of a political shift. As Mexico City is the vanguard of the nation, it appears that
the M C M Z is ripe to experience political changes that may present opportunities for the
implementation o f water quality institutions.
This chapter consists o f three sections outlining the political antecedents and the
major political elements for each metropolitan zone. Within the context o f the
prevailing political culture, the water policies and institutions that affect water quality
and management are outlined. In the first two sections of this chapter, the political
culture of each metropolitan zone will be discussed with the intent to provide a baseline
for comparison. A brief overview of the federal, state and local governments, the
corresponding regulatory framework and institutional infrastructure impacting water
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resources and public opinion are included. The water institutions may be divided into
two broad categories including: (1) water management institutions that purvey water
supply and (2) water quality institutions that protect the integrity o f water resources by
regulating contamination sources. In the third section, a comparison between the
respective political and institutional elements is included to illuminate opportunities and
obstacles on the horizon toward formalizing an institutional approach to water quality in
Mexico City.
The Metropolitan Zone o f Mexico City
In Mexico, the pronounced centralization and bureaucracy o f the recently domi
nant political party, the Partido Revolutionary Institutional (PRI) perpetuates
governmental inertia and confusion that has thwarted environmental reform. These
conditions are amplified in Mexico City. Centralized decision-making has led to a host
of urban policies that have disrupted the local ecology including: (1) subsidence that
is connected to overexploitation of the aquifers, and (2) centralized residence of
industry as potential sources of contamination. At present, Mexico’s environmental
quality program requires fundamental restructuring, as does the prevailing centralized
growth model that encourages urbanization beyond the sustainable limits of the Valley
and the neighboring basins.
With regards to water, a true water-quality monitoring program is non-existent.
Mexico City has been focusing its water programs on water use with only minor
emphasis on water quality. Within the water-use framework, Mexico City’s water
purveyors are prone to pursue reactive, short-term solutions to meet the M C M Z’s water
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demand. Easily accessible water resources are consumed first and often at consump
tion rates that exceed sustainable levels. Furthermore, the water purveyors in the
Comision Nacional de Agua (CNA) wield a large degree of power to provide potable
water to meet demand. The CNA has invested little effort and funding for conservation
and restoration programs that consider ecological feedback loops as part of the water
use equation. However, CNA water purveyors have operated within the confining
bureaucracy promoted by the former PRI-led government. From the PRI perspective,
the CNA provided water to sustain the centralized growth model that supports Mexico
City’s political primacy and the PRI dominion of Mexican politics.
It is only in the recent past that hinterland residents have thwarted new plans for
external water appropriation projects that extract unsustainable withdrawals from the
neighboring basins. Such resistance has become more common as Mexican citizens
began to question the PRI social motives. It appears that a shift in the public’s tolerance
is underway. This shift has already begun to surface during recent elections. During
the past three elections, opposition parties won an increasing number of seats in the
congressional branch. In the year 2000 elections, Vicente Fox of the Partido Action
Nacional (PAN) won a milestone victory capturing the presidency. This is the first time
in over 70 years that a PRI candidate has not won the presidential seat.
Considering the increasing political polarity of the 1980s and 90s, governmental
and bureaucratic changes will likely follow. This signals that acceptance of reactive,
short-term water-use might loose favor. New water programs and policies focusing on
the Valley’s water budget might include: (1) optimization of water usage, (2) a water-
quality program, and (3) increasing the field o f water institutions.
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In Mexico City, the academic community provides sound data and insight con
cerning the potential for environmental contamination in Mexico City’s soil and
groundwater resources; but a legally established institution charged with a well-defined
mission to protect these resources is absent. Additionally, Mexico City’s water
management is currently undergoing analysis to improve water delivery. Progressively,
Mexico City’s water consumption will require optimization yet the missing component
toward a sustainable water program appears to be a legally charged environmental
institution that will embrace the challenges o f water quality in the Valley within a
cooperative framework. Multiple challenges exist and only a high level o f integration
and coordination between applicable institutions will alleviate the pending crisis.
Several environmental institutions do exist in Mexico City but these programs and
policies are not well coordinated, communicated nor implemented. Considering the
legacy o f the former political culture and the malleable nature o f politics in Mexico
City, it appears that there may be some latitude for new water quality institutions to
achieve lofty goals.
Political Framework
At the federal level, Mexico is made up o f 32 political administrative units in
cluding 31 states and one Federal District. The foundation for the government is based
upon a constitution that provides autonomy to each state. The nation’s government is
. based upon an executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch. The capital is
Mexico City. In theory, the framework provides the capacity for a natural system of
checks and balances. However, the federal government has been heavily centralized
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favoring the PRI, while concurrently undermining the constitutional autonomy granted
to the states and municipios. Controlling the nation’s budgets, the PRI has successfully
marshaled the political forum in Mexico for over 60 years (Ward, 1990). Ward
describes Mexico’s prevailing politics. “The Mexican political system is generally
considered to be authoritarian. It displays a low level of political mobilisation, and
limited pluralism in which the contest for power is restricted to supporters of the
regime” (Ward 1990, 65). Moreover, the extreme political centralization remains fixed
through a system that carefully grooms party members for final selection by elevated
members of the PRI-govemment (Cornelius and Craig, 1988).
In Mexico, an important indicator ofM exico’s political culture and its capacity
for change is the attitudes and beliefs of the Mexican people. In general, the Mexican
people dislike drastic changes. “Survey data collected during the 1980s and 1990s
consistently revealed the Mexican people’s fundamental aversion to concepts of radical
transformation” (Cornelius 1996, 90). Despite resentment of the government, Mexican
attitudes and behaviors tend to support the traditional political system. Despite interest
for political change that will provide more widely distributed social benefits, Mexicans
do not support large-scale, changes.
At the same time, a tense relationship exists between Mexican political elites
and the lower class. Political leaders and elites are keenly aware o f the inequitable
distribution of social, economic and political benefits that prevails. In fact, the PRI-led
government attempts to maintain this imbalance while presenting the image as a
benefactor. This is achieved through a system o f subsidization and distributive benefits
that has been formerly controlled by the PRI. In Mexico City, for example, subsidized
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water pricing influences 16.6 million citizens but fails to meet the expense of
implementation and operation of the water delivery system. In reality, subsidization is a
failed political policy. Serageldin describes the challenges associated with the
Cutzamala Basin water appropriation project and the pricing differential: “In Mexico
City, water is being pumped over an elevation o f 1,000 meters into the Valley of
Mexico from the Cutzamala River. The average incremental cost of $0.82 per cubic
meter is about 55% greater than the cost of water from the Valley o f Mexico aquifer”
(Serageldin 1995, 13). Furthermore, PRI policies curtail avenues for public input.
Interest groups are only beginning to win recognition as stakeholders in the decision
making process and the public does not have knowledge or access to most information.
Under these conditions, opposition is thwarted and changes will likely occur with
incremental progress.
The M C M Z is the heart o f the nation’s politics. It is composed o f two political
zones: the capital or Federal District and portions o f the State o f Mexico. As the Federal
District is the national capital and the State o f Mexico is an autonomous state, the
megacity combines federal and state level governments with a local government. The
combined political structure o f the metropolitan zone appears to provide a system of
checks and balances between these levels of government. In reality, the overall
centralist composition o f the Mexican government provides a carefully crafted system
o f control that tends to enhance bureaucracy. The centralized decision-making structure
has tended to undermine water quality and management reform. Water programs and
polices have not been well coordinated under the prevailing political culture and have
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deferred to PRI dictates. This political dependence has promoted an extremely
inefficient systems approach to Mexico City’s pending water crisis.
Political Antecedents
The vicinity of Mexico City has been the central location for some of the most
dominant and well-known Latin American civilizations. Dating back to the epoch of
the Aztec Empire, followed by the Spanish Conquistadores, through the dictatorial
regime o f Mexico’s President, Porfirio Diaz to the Partido Revolucionario Institutional,
Mexico City served as the political domain o f Mexico’s political leadership.
Throughout history, the city possessed unparalleled political might in Mexico.
Following a carefully crafted political agenda that maximizes control, the PRI
successfully dominated Mexican politics with little opposition for approximately 60
years. The PRI designed the Mexican political forum to secure its control while
simultaneously undermining opposition parties. A number o f executive powers are
written into the Mexican constitution that provides extraordinary powers to Mexico’s
president. One o f these powers is the practice o f nominating and endorsing a
presidential successor. Until the most recent elections, this practice effectively has
ensured victory for the nominee. During electoral campaigns, the PRI exercised control
over the media and public officials.
Corruption also played a role. “Historically, the official party’s most potent
advantage over the competition has been its ability to commit electoral fraud with
relative impunity” (Cornelius 1996, 60). Corruption in public offices has been rife and
further mired the relationship between public officials and their obligations to protect
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the public interest (Cornelius, 1996; Ward, 1990; Wirth, 1998). “The PRI’s sectoral
organizations are viewed by most Mexicans as corrupt, manipulative, self-serving
extensions o f the state bureaucracy that provide no effective representation o f their
interests” (Cornelius 1996, 53). The majority o f Mexicans do not consider elected
officials and authorities in important offices as representatives of the public’s interest.
As the opposition continues to make inroads to the political forum signifying public
support for moderated change, an uneasy rift expands the division between the PRI
party and the public. This dynamic has been gradually eroding the PRI position of
control.
Twentieth-Century Politics
Throughout the majority o f the twentieth century, Mexico City’s most dominant
political players were PRI members. Maintaining this political control required an
evolving political formula that promoted the PRI government through both control and
distributive benefits. Long-term, social benefits for the megacity’ s inhabitants are
limited while at the same time immediate consumer demands within the metropolitan
zone are distributed to maintain political control. In the M CM Z, the extreme population
concentration provides a large constituency to the dominant political party as well as
opposition parties that seek to win votes by satisfying metropolitan demands. It is often
considered that the services and benefits offered by living in Mexico City have quelled
much o f the dissent amongst the metropolitan inhabitants. However, challenges at the
polls in 1988 and 1994 led to political reverberations challenging the PRI control. Also,
the PRI control of city government is beginning to display signs of strain; concurrently,
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a questionable capacity to fulfill a number of demands is looming as the city’s
population and industry continues to expand. The status quo that favors PRI control of
the political process appears to have shifted.
Political upheavals during the 1988 and 1994 elections opened up seams o f op
portunity for opposition parties. The PRI candidates Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988)
and Ernesto Zedillo (1994) both won their offices by slim margins. Additionally,
opposition candidates have won increasing percentage of the presidential vote with
particular relevance to Mexico City. In fact, tabulations of the two elections in the
1980s and 1990s indicated that several opposition candidates won a greater percentage
o f the vote in the capital than their PRI opponent. For example, “Salinas (PRI) did very
badly in the Metropolitan Area taking only 27 per cent o f the vote in the Federal District
compared with 49 per cent for Cardenas and his Frente” (Ward 1990, 82). Also during
the 1988 elections, the PRI won the majority of the vote in the rural zones and small
cities but lost by significant margins in Mexico City (Cornelius, Gentleman, and Smith,
1989). The final votes were close in both elections sending shock waves throughout a
nation expecting a clean sweep by the PRI. The impacts were also felt throughout the
world rocking Mexico’s standing in the international community (Ward, 1990;
Cornelius, 1996). The general impression was that the PRI political stability was
unraveling.
In response to these upheavals in Mexico’s politics, the last PRI president,
Ernesto Zedillo instituted a number o f changes that provided new opportunities at all
levels of government. For example, President Zedillo appointed a number of non-PRI
representatives to high offices. Two o f the most noteworthy of these appointees include
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Julia Carabrias, a non-partisan environmentalist as the secretary o f SEMARNAP and
Antonio Lozano, a Partido Action Nacional (PAN) leader appointed as Attorney
General. These moves by President Zedillo were the first of their kind and signified a
shift in PRI political tactics. An even more clarion message that the political status quo
has changed was the election o f Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, a Partido de la Revolution
Democratica (PRD) leader as Mayor of Mexico City. Cardenas was the first Mayor of
Mexico City ever elected under the democratic process. His victory at the polls
awakened the PRI to the realization that the opposition parties and public response
could no longer be discarded.
Additionally, President Ernesto Zedillo signed an agreement with the governors
and mayors throughout the nation that proposed constitutional amendments providing
for the legal framework of a new political agenda referred to as “a new Mexican
Federalism” (Cornelius 1996, 33). Under this framework, President Zedillo attempted
to decentralize the traditional bureaucratic conditions and empower regional and local
officials through shifting some fiscal and legislative authority from the federal level to
the state and municipal governments. This opens up opportunities for change in a
number o f arenas, but it is likely that only incremental changes will occur. With regard
to water policies, the flux in Mexico City’s political culture presents both opportunities
and obstacles for implementing a cooperative water framework for water quality and
management institutions.
Delivery of potable water in the M C M Z is a chronic problem. It has been esti
mated that over 400,000 persons in the delegaciones do not have access to potable
water (Pick and Butler, 1997). This represents approximately 5 per cent of the 1990
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population. In general, the M CM Z tends to exercise its power to meet the resource
demands of its citizens at the expense of the hinterlcoid. Similarly, the power structure
in the M CM Z tends to favor the delagaciones over the municipios. This places the
municipios at a disadvantage and the budget for delivery upgrades may not occur for
some time.
Another important component of the political culture in Mexico City is the suc
cession o f personnel that occupy important offices. Traditionally, politicos (profes
sional PRI party members) have been placed in positions o f high rank in the major
institutions despite their training. These appointees are placed in national, state and
municipal offices. Thus, politicos who are devoted principally to the party traditionally
have held many important offices in Mexico City and throughout the nation. The
rationale for these appointments is based in greater part upon the appointee’s devotion
to the party than to his or her professional competency. A bureaucracy of inertia has
evolved under these conditions o f delegated authority. However, the political climate
has been changing due to the increased presence of a new group o f appointees known as
tecnicos.
Since the 1960s, the entrenched political presence o f the rearguard politicos has
been moderated. The traditional practice o f drawing appointees for top public offices
from provincial and military backgrounds has undergone a challenge from within the
PRI political construct. Distinct from the politicos, most of the modem PRI appointees
will have attained degrees at the most respected Mexican Universities. A number of
these new appointees hold post-graduate degrees in fields like engineering, architecture
and economics. Work and academic experience abroad also is more common among
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the tecnicos (Needier, 1982). However, the political change is incremental owing to the
fact that the transition from politicos to the technicos is a modernization of former PRI
practices.
Water Policies
Based upon anthropogenic impacts on the Valley, satisfying the needs of the
megacity requires importing resources from the hinterland. These water appropriation
projects burden the people and ecosystems of the neighboring basins. The option of
sustainability based solely upon local water resources is not plausible. Due to political
supremacy, Mexico City’s governments have exercised the political might to continue
import projects (Unikel, 1977). Reliance on the hinterland has evolved a pattern of
exploitation. Hinterland exploitation is so familiar that a Mexican dicho (accepted
saying) from the provincial cities sums it up best: ‘“ Se patriota- mata un chilango’ (Be
patriotic-kill a chilango [a person bom in the Federal District]” (Ward 1990,27). This
phrase is most typical of the sentiments in the northern territories toward Mexico City’s
public policies yet it captures the widespread disgust toward the inequitable distribution
o f social benefits.
Most often the people in the hinterland have not been informed nor consulted
about water appropriation projects that will affect their lifestyles and livelihoods. Water
purveyors backed by the PRI administration have been well entrenched and can afford
to disregard hinterland protests. Furthermore, part o f the PRI objective of centralized
control has entailed limiting access to information. In Mexico City, academics,
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professions and the general public are denied access to the reports that describe the
integrity o f the Mexico City aquifer because they are confidential.
One o f the largest contributors to the environmental degradation in Mexico City
has been the lack of public information. This policy aided Mexico City’s decision
makers to wield unrivaled power both within the metropolitan limits and beyond. In
general, it has been difficult to arrange access to official records, results and studies for
environmental quality issues. For example, information and published studies
pertaining to water quality, and hydrogeologic attributes in the Valley have not been
available to the public or academic communities. Repeated reports describing the
dearth o f this information is vivid in the literature (Ortega-Guerrero, Cherry and
Rudolph, 1993; Mazari and Mackay, 1993; NRC, 1995; Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart,
1996; Pick and Butler, 1997).
Mexico City is the most advanced city in Mexico yet its system o f environ
mental information is limited to the D iario Oficial and the Gaceta Ecologica (Wolfson,
1996). The Diario Oficial contains the NOMs (environmental laws) that set
environmental standards such as permissible discharge limits. New NOMs are made
public and can be challenged within 90 days o f public notice. The Gaceta Ecologica
contains the environmental impact reports and permits. This information is considered
confidential and is only released when a determination has been made that a
contamination leak occurred. When a leak determination is declared for a specific
property, the Gaceta Ecologica is made available.
In general, public access to information in Mexico City is poor. Increased ac
cess to information pertaining to environmental cases would allow a larger sector of the
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metropolitan zone to become aware of the contamination threats and their potential
impact on Valley water resources. The likely outcome would be public pressure on the
existing government officials and environmental regulators to advance the progress of
the environmental quality program.
Water policy obstacles
Mexico City’s centralized growth model strains the Valley hydrogeologic sys
tems. The introduction of large-scale sources o f biological and chemical contamination
generated by the activities o f approximately 16.6 million people and 38,000 business
establishments is a major cause o f the ecological degradation. Worse yet, the prevailing
political culture is prone to accept that subsurface water resources are protected by a
clay aquitard separating the Mexico City Aquifer from surface sources o f contamina
tion. This myopic belief ignores emerging evidence that the aquitard is fractured. A
number o f studies indicate that tiny fractures may serve as conduits for contamination to
migrate toward groundwater. What is more, the information pertaining to environ
mental conditions is considered confidential eliminating the important role o f public
and expert scrutiny. Behind this veil o f ignorance, PRI politicians have not established
an empowered, independent water quality institution nor a water quality control
framework.
Mexico’s water use oriented policies geared toward centralized growth receive
the bulk of the financial and political support. Despite the grandiose costs associated
with water delivery from neighboring watersheds that traverse high elevations and long
distances, PRI political leadership continues to support such water-use strategies.
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Significant economic expenditures teamed with Mexico’s weakened global, economic
standing suggests that capital may not be available to expand the existing water
appropriation infrastructure. These conditions indicate the implementation of a
complimentary water quality program and institutions designed, developed and
empowered to provide proactive, long-term solutions to Mexico City’s water crisis may
receive new interest as more viable options to meet demand.
The Mexico City Aquifer is a resource of significant importance but long-term
protection from contamination is not yet a chief priority. The integrity of the Valley
hydrogeology remains unknown but based upon recent academic studies and
experiences in the LA M Z it is likely that the wide-scale contamination may be
underway. Adequate response to this potential threat has been mired by decision
makers that control fiscal budgets and the political agenda.
Considering Mexico’s challenged economy, remediation costs might exceed the
existing budget. Groundwater remediation is an expensive and long-term process.
Channeling financing into a water quality program might require minimal expenditures
to implement but assessment and remediation might be on the order o f billions of
dollars. The latent nature of subsurface contamination undermines its significance as a
priority. Short term planning with regard to water policies is prevalent under Mexico
City’s budgetary constraints. The focus on water use is likely to continue to dominate
the water resource agenda, until a crisis condition merits full-scale reaction to water
quality challenges.
Another obstacle to reform is the political tenure of high officials is limited by
the end of the presidents’ sexenio. The political rotation promotes a regular turnover o f
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officials that are unwilling to challenge the status quo. The appointees to high offices in
the existing water institutions and agencies have been filled by PRI politicos. In
general, PRI appointees stifle changes that might disrupt the PRI political agenda of
control. Typically, during their six-year term, the political will to initiate wide scale
changes that might ameliorate Mexico City’s water crisis is remiss. Promoting a water
quality reform is not in favor. Under traditional politics, destructive, short-term
programs and projects that amplify crisis conditions are likely to continue.
Fortunately, there appears to be evidence o f significant and sustained political
change that may provide opportunities for water experts, technicos and opposition
leaders. However, the task for these potential reformers will be challenged in both the
realm o f water quality and management. Even the well-established water delivery
institution, the Comision Nacional del Agua only monitors water quality for
fundamental water quality parameters. Only minimal testing for organic chemicals that
are commonly used by industrial and commercial establishments occurs. In Mexico
City, a true water quality program will emerge and succeed when the executive or
gubernatorial administrations embrace the challenge and support the programs and
policies.
Water quality challenges
In terms o f water quality, the integrity o f surface water as well as groundwater
in the Mexico City Aquifer is potentially threatened by a host of anthropogenic sources
o f pollutants. These pollutant sources include: (1) hazardous waste generated by
industrial and commercial establishments in the M CM Z, and (2) untreated sewage and
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wastewater released into canals and dried lakebeds. These are the primary sources of
contamination that threaten the Valley water resources. On-going subsidence amplifies
these threats by increasing both the size and number o f fractures in the geologic
horizons. Establishing an independent water quality framework and institutions
empowered with a legal charter and the support o f the executive office is a paramount
reform objective that is neglected under the prevailing political culture.
Under the gossamer veil o f environmental regulations, large potential sources of
contamination are not monitored to determine the extent o f this threat. Based upon the
confidential status assigned to environmental records, regular monitoring may be
required to determine the contamination posed by this sector. However, industrial
operations provide clues about the types o f chemicals utilized by each business
establishment. In Mexico City, landfills, petroleum refineries, gasoline service stations,
and electronic industries produce toxics like petroleum hydrocarbons; chromate and
synthetic halogenated organic solvents. Once contamination enters the subsoil, it
potentially could continue to migrate into beneficial aquifers. Rudolph and colleagues
describe the potential for migration:
Consequently, the rate o f downward migration o f contaminants from sewage
canals, landfills and other waste sites may be rapid and therefore the main pro
duction aquifer used by Mexico City could be much more susceptible to con
tamination from the surface sources than would be the case if the lacustrine
sediments were unfractured. (Rudolph, Cherry, and Farvolden 1991, 2200)
The natural fractures make the aquitard a resource vulnerable to contamination
migration. A water quality institution would be positioned to make this determination
and address the threat.
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Considering the political and economic significance o f Mexico City’s industrial
hub, it is not difficult to consider the weight of the political lobby that the enterprises in
this zone might utilize to weaken the incipient regulatory progress to laissez fair
activities. Additionally, corruption is rife and described as systemic (Meyer, 1989).
Under the PRI centralized growth model, it is not difficult to consider that the
hazardous waste generators might be emboldened to dismiss guidelines and directives
for the treatment and disposal o f hazardous waste. In Mexico City, enforcement efforts
are rare and corruption continues with impunity.
In the Federal District alone, industry generated approximately three million
metric tons o f hazardous wastes (NRC, 1995). Without clear details pertaining to the
disposal of this waste, it is difficult to corroborate responsibility for the unpermitted
disposal. Access to the laboratory results of the geologic horizons may provide the
best historical evidence of any contamination leaks generated in the M C M Z.
Unfortunately, laboratory results are limited to those by the water management
institution, the CNA (Comision Nacional del Agua). Through this system, an impartial
water quality institution, a logical check in the process, is remiss.
Another problem involves the disposal o f raw wastewater in open trenches and
submerged drainage canals throughout the M CM Z. Ineffective regulatory practices
toward unpermitted disposal leads to highly contaminated wastewater in the drainage
conduits. Compounding this threat to the aquifer, transport conduits such as the general
drainage system are unlined increasing the potential for hazardous material leachate into
the aquifers. This contaminated flow may provide migratory paths for pollution to enter
the subsurface. The array of contamination includes: (1) bacterial contamination found
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in untreated sewage water, (2) agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers like nitrates and
phosphates that leach into water resources, (3) industrial chemicals such as petroleum
hydrocarbons like MTBE and BTEX as well as solvents like TCE and PCE, and
(4) metals such as lead and chromate. A concern of even greater magnitude is the
location of several sewage canals that cross directly through groundwater production
well fields such as in Chaleo. Anton describes the conditions: “A number of pumping
wells that supply the city are located near the Chaleo canal, which carries away both
wastewater and excess storm water. The risk o f contamination is obvious and in fact,
some wells had to be closed because of nitrates in the water” (Anton 1993, 117).
The deep drainage channels penetrate the subsurface stratigraphy and run the
length of the megacity. The concern stems from the intrusion of sewage and wastewater
pollution into well fields that supply potable water. The progressive pressure o f
urbanization has increased the quantity of waste generated beyond the capacity of the
treatment systems (UN, 1991). Effectively, wastewater is not treated and the drainage
conduits function solely to transport untreated wastewater out of the M C M Z carrying
the toxic load. With the reversed hydraulic pressure and the scientific findings
pertaining to natural fractures, it becomes more apparent that Mexico City’s approach to
sewage and wastewater could jeopardize the megacity’ s largest water supply. Water
purveyors will need to consider this observed dynamic when reviewing the Mexico City
Aquifer to meet increased metropolitan water demands. More aggressive pumping to
increase water production entails increasing the cone of depression and subsidence that
enhance vertical migration. A proactive, cooperative water program coordinating water
regulators and purveyors might determine a number o f protective measures including
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regular monitoring, reduced pumping and artificial recharge. Despite the observed
ecological signals and the results o f scientific studies that illuminate the potential for
contamination, proactive environmental guidelines and directives have not been
implemented nor enforced to protect the Valley’s water supply. Additionally, the PRI
centralized growth model has remained a cornerstone of Mexico City politics.
However, as long as water import projects continue to receive funding and political
support, monitoring and remediation will be difficult to ratify.
Water management challenges
Short term, reactive policy-making combined with a political culture of control
has undermined the outlook for change in water management policies. The alternatives
to the massive water import projects that divert water resources from the hinterland are
not promising in the short-term. The growing network o f water appropriation projects
is exceedingly cost prohibitive and progressively more distant as each water resource is
overexploited. These factors alone are not likely to steer the current players away from
traditional policies and projects. The water purveyors in place are caught in the
political shift. Without reform directives from political decision-makers, little change
will occur.
In terms o f water management, the multiple impact of; (1) dilapidated water
conduits, (2) amplified water appropriation costs, and (3) subsidized water pricing
epitomizes the complex set o f interrelated water policies that challenge the outlook for
sustainability. A portion of the PRI practice to maintain control of Mexico’s political
forum has been distributive benefits and budgetary control. Unraveling the political and
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bureaucratic network that thrives within the prevailing PRI framework w ill be a
paramount challenge toward reforming the water management program to incorporate
more advanced water quality monitoring ultimately complementing an independent
water quality institution.
The water delivery infrastructure
Mexico City’s existing water delivery infrastructure is flawed. With progressive
subsidence, the subsurface horizons are descending in irregular patterns, which
threatens to fracture the conduits that run the course of the metropolitan zone. It is
estimated that large segments of the water conduits are severed while others require
pumping stations to move water through uneven gradients. Leaks within the water
conduits are estimated to be as much as 40 per cent in the metropolitan zone (NRC,
1995). Additionally, the per capita water consumption is lower in the municipios than
the delegaciones. This may change as growth based largely on immigration is rapidly
expanding the population o f the municipios. Many hinterland residents are migrating
toward Mexico City to flee the difficulties in the rural zones. These conditions are
exasperated by the PRI distributive policies that channel social benefits to Mexico City.
As population and political significance o f the municipios and hinterland grow, M C M Z
water purveyors will be called upon to moderate the imbalance. This will likely require
improving the water delivery infrastructure in the municipios at great expense.
Water appropriation projects
Mexico City’s absolute water demand is growing based upon population growth
and improved lifestyles. Traditional solutions to increases in water demand include
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water appropriation projects and increasing groundwater production. The megacity’ s
economic prominence includes residence of 45 per cent o f the nation’s industrial
establishments and GNP contributions o f 38 per cent (NRC, 1995). These statistics
elucidate why Mexico City is the power center of the nation. The jobs and benefits
associated with this economic concentration secure the megacity’ s prominence. This
influence is channeled into policies that favor metropolitan growth and prosperity.
Barring political reform, the hinterland that is not well represented, can expect the
exploitation and subsequent demise of its ecosystems to continue. Under the former
political culture, PRI party members who defer to the capital have dominated hinterland
representation. Mexico City has wielded its power to divert natural resources from
other regions and utilized its influence on rural representatives. This becomes clear
with regard to its water policies.
To fulfill the burgeoning water consumption demands of the metropolitan zone,
the megacity extracts supplementary water from the Cutzamala River and the Lerma
Basin. These projects reduce accessible water in the nearby rural regions in the State of
Mexico (west o f Mexico City) and also in the large city o f Toluca located in the Lerma
Basin. Because o f Mexico City’s substantial influence in the economic and political
arenas, extraction of water from other states proceeds without contest. For example, the
political process involved in appropriating water resources from previous watersheds
involved little more input than the engineering and appropriations plans of the water
purveyors from Mexico City. In most cases, local citizens are not consulted (Simon,
1997). As the national political structure is reliant on Mexico City’s politicians for
budgetary support, water purveyors plan large-scale water appropriation projects
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without a need for consent from hinterland residents nor their representatives. Simon
describes the results of Mexico City’s water policies:
Like Tenochtitlan, the ever-larger Mexico City embarked on an era of expansion
in which it subdued it neighbors and took their water. While the Aztecs could
only capture water from within the valley, new technology allowed Mexico City
to look farther afield. In the late 1930s, the city’s gaze fell on Almoloya del
Rio, a backwater town of four thousand fishermen on the other side o f the
12,620-foot Ajusco volcano. (Simon 1997, 69-70)
Many small communities in water-rich regions neighboring Mexico City are in
jeopardy o f similar fates. In fact, the CNA has been considering a number of
neighboring watersheds to expand Mexico City’s water supply (Ezcurra et al. 1999).
Considering the consequences o f Mexico City’s previous water appropriation projects,
these basins might fall below sustainable limits as well. Furthermore, Mexico City
disposes of municipal and industrial wastewater in an open drain that flows into the
Valley ofMezquital in the State ofHildalgo (north of Mexico City). This wastewater
known as aguas negras contains untreated sewage and raw industrial waste. In
Hildalgo, the aguas negras is used for agriculture irrigation. In summary, a “political
pump exists” that diverts potable water from the west into Mexico City and returns
untreated water to the north. Former PRI politics has enabled this flow. However, large
cities like Toluca, located in the Lerma Basin (west o f Mexico City) are growing at
rapid or exponential rates. This growth translates into political power and increased
water demand. As Toluca grows, Mexico City may experience competition and
setbacks to its withdrawals in the Lerma Basin.
The large-scale projects associated with importing water including all the public
services to deliver water resources require a colossal budget. Expansion and
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maintenance of the metropolitan water infrastructure is required in addition to increased
water supply To maintain the massive input of water required to meet the metropolitan
water demands, water appropriation projects are being considered yet sustainable
programs such as artificial recharge receive little attention. The costs o f new import
projects are amplified by the fact that water must be pumped over large volcanic
mountains. These water appropriation projects burden the M CM Z with fiscal costs and
the hinterland with ecological costs; yet they provide political stability to the PRI
government via satiation o f metropolitan demands.
Water subsidization
In Mexico City, water pricing is highly subsidized and constitutes part o f the
PRI distributive benefit system. Subsidized water pricing in the M C M Z provides the
political party another means of garnering support and stability. Ezcurra elucidates the
loss due to Mexico City’s water subsidization: “The government spends approximately
U.S. $150 million per year to supply water to the Basin of Mexico. The revenue
obtained from the service however is on the order of $42 million, less than 30 per cent
o f the total cost” (Ezcurra 1995, 585).
Meanwhile, the associated costs of new water appropriation projects are not lost
but rather converted into burdens on the hinterland. “Through the system o f ecological
subsidies, many o f the problems generated by the growth o f Mexico City are in effect
exported to neighboring areas.” (Ezcurra, 1995, 585) From the metropolitan consumer’s
vantage, this is a benefit as water prices are kept low.
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The consequence o f this pricing scheme is the belief by most metropolitan resi
dents that cheap water is a right. Through this widely accepted belief, the true value
and price o f water has been obscured even as the cost to appropriate new water supplies
is rising. This attitude leads to wasteful and obsolete approaches to water delivery and
consumption. This pattern is exasperated by the fact that water is a relatively scarce
resource treated until recently as an abundant commodity. The need for reform has not
been viewed as a priority. In avoiding changes, the political leadership inadvertently
promotes a crisis driven approach to water delivery that maintains unsustainable water
use policies.
Mexico City’s reliance on water subsidization prevents market signals from in
dicating water scarcity to the market (urban water consumers). For example, the
megacity is on the verge of a water crisis but the actual crisis is ensconced by the
subsidized pricing schemes. The net effect o f Mexico City’s heavily subsidized water
pricing is an ingrained belief held by metropolitan water consumers that water is a
cheap resource. As a result, metropolitan residents are firmly against price increases. In
fact, government attempts to adjust water pricing closer to its true cost have been
countered by public protest (Ezcurra and Mazari-Hiriart, 1996). Therefore, the long
standing tradition o f water subsidization will be one o f the most contentious but
fundamental reform challenges for Mexico City water purveyors. To benefit Mexico
City’s water quality program, adjustments to the water-pricing scheme will be required
to reduce consumption and promote conservation. Price adjustments will require an
integrated and phased approach that considers the financial position o f all consumers.
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One step in the right direction regarding water pricing involves implementation
of increasing block pricing. With this type of pricing, consumers are charged prices that
reflect various usage levels or blocks. Each block of water consumption is tied to a
specific price per unit: the greater the water usage, the greater the price per unit.
Although Mexico City’s block prices are still subsidized, this is an initial step in the
correct direction. Additionally, the M C M Z now utilizes a pricing system that
establishes higher prices for commercial and industrial water use than domestic use.
The intended impact is for large water users to reduce water consumption by investing
in water conserving technology. Significant pricing differentials provide the incentive
to conserve or consider other locations for business operations. Despite these strides,
the PRI party has not supported unpopular price changes, as this would undermine its
support with the industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. Political incentive
exists to maintain low prices.
Water Institutions
Entering the twenty-first century, Mexico’s environmental framework is in its
formative stages. Environmental institutions charged with water quality as a primary
task are remiss. Since it was first established in the 1988 General Ecology Law, the
Mexican environmental regulatory program has undergone a number of reorganizations.
Under this law, the first environmental agency, Secretaria de Desarollo Urbano y
Ecologia (SEDUE) was commissioned. In 1992, SEDUE was reorganized as Secretaria
de Desarollo Social (SEDESOL) by the Mexican Congress. In 1994, President Zedillo
issued a law establishing, Secretaria del Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca
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(SEMARNAP) SEMARNAP is charged with the responsibility of environmental
matters, natural resources and fisheries
In general, Mexico’s policymakers have been slow to ratify environmental re
forms. Typically, progressive policies have been implemented as reactionary response
to accidents and crisis situations. For example, in Guadalajara (Mexico’s second largest
city), a sewage worker lit a cigarette that ignited explosive fumes in the drainage
conduit. An entire city block was destroyed along with hundreds o f people killed.
Suspecting that gasoline from a nearby service station may have migrated into the sewer
conduit, the PRI party began an underground storage tank (UST) program for gasoline
service stations that later expanded into other types o f UST cases.
There are three governmental jurisdictions in Mexico City, federal, state and
local. Under this framework, there are three chief environmental institutions involved
with UST cases including. (1) PROFEPA, (2) Direction General de Prevention y
Control de la Contamination (DGPCC) and (3) Secretaria de Ecologta. This research
will focus on PROFEPA and DGPCC that operate in the delegaciones.
Considering that there may be as many as 10,000 leaking UST cases in the Fed
eral District, this is a reason for concern about Mexico City’s incremental progress
toward environmental quality. PROFEPA manages non-service station cases with five
regulators and DGPCC manages Mexico City’s service station cases with four
regulators. This is minimal coverage for the world’s second largest megacity and
indicates the PRI negligence of environmental quality problems.
On paper, a hierarchical system exists to protect and manage the nation’s re
sources. A series o f national institutions and agencies namely SEMARNAP, CNA, INE
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and PROFEPA are legally charged with responsibility to protect and manage the
environment. The roles of these four key national environmental institutions include.
(1) SEMARNAP (Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca) which
operates as the federal body to institute national environmental policies; (2) CNA
(Comision Nacional del Agua) which operates as the environmental institution charged
with managing the nation’s water resources for demand; (3) IN E (Institute Nacional de
Ecologia) which operates as the institution charged with developing regulations and
guidelines, and (4) PROFEPA (Procuraduria Federal de Protection al Ambiente) which
operates as the environmental institution charged with enforcement o f the nation’s
environmental regulations. These institutions have been loosely coordinated under
SEMARNAP oversight but the coordination has been in its formative stages. In
general, consumptive use is one o f the chief objectives for these institutions while water
quality is an objective that is approached on a case-by-case basis. The approach de-
emphasizes a comprehensive, institutional focus on regions.
In terms o f water institutions, Mexico has established a single bureau, the Co
mision Nacional de Agua (CNA) that is charged with providing both delivery and
protection. With respect to water protection, the CNA utilizes four levels of testing
potable water supplies. However, water protection continues to be mismanaged,
partially because the chief goal of the CNA is to provide water delivery. Its role in
water quality protection is not well defined nor directed. The prevailing water
management institutions make no provisions to monitor sources of contamination such
as industry, gasoline service stations, dry cleaners, contaminated subsurface formation,
leaking drainage pipes and contaminated groundwater. In general, independent water
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quality institutions are effectively remiss and the prevailing water quality program is
poorly coordinated and limited in scope.
The emphasis on water use to maintain growth and consumption is demonstrated
by the presence o f a water use institution and the absence o f clearly defined water
quality institutions. Additionally, the scant access to water monitoring results reduces
public assurance. The PRI has not been a proponent of proactive strategies that might
disrupt its position o f control and initial monitoring findings might force a full-scale
monitoring and remediation framework to protect the Mexico City Aquifer. The funding
required to initiate such a program might be minimal but the clean up o f a large-scale
groundwater contamination case might be on the order o f billions o f dollars. The issue
o f water quality becomes a potential Pandora’s box. In summary, water management
programs and institutions have been much more advanced than water quality due to
former political support.
The historical focus of water resources has been one-sided: exploitation o f the
closest water resources to benefit metropolitan consumers. Despite all the support to
water management, Mexico City’s programs and institutions rely on political approval.
Historically, this has meant a top down presence o f PRI party members who possess the
final decision making power. Water purveyors enjoy substantial political and fiscal
support while water quality regulators are remiss. At present, the newly formed
SEMARNAP is attempting to define and coordinate the framework for the water quality
control institutions and their specific roles. The extant water quality framework
includes guidelines and directives but not institutions and personnel to implement and
enforce water quality. In Mexico City, water quality monitoring and remediation can
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be considered remiss. Yet, the changing political dynamics may open the prevailing
political culture that allows a shift toward water quality.
Considering the political changes that are occurring in Mexico, former PRI prac
tices of centralized control may loosen. This will allow a higher level of cooperation
and coordination between all players. Within the established water management
institutions, this condition will open opportunities for a more broad scope of
involvement. Additionally, new fledgling water quality institutions will have a better
chance to emerge and succeed under reduced bureaucratic oversight.
Another missing element revolves around the involvement o f regional and local
environmental bodies. These agencies initiate action such as permitting approvals and
oversight. However, these agencies are not well represented in the hierarchy and their
important role is undermined without a written set of guidelines defining their
responsibility. A national-level environmental institution such as SEMARNAP will
need to lead the way for the inclusion o f these local agencies. A clear agenda led by an
empowered SEMARNAP with macro and micro-level goals to be reviewed at
predetermined time horizons will give integrity to the emerging water quality
framework. However, this remains a goal on the horizon.
Perhaps the greatest problem for Mexico City’s water management reform is
that the level o f cooperation and coordination between the existing institutions is poor.
This confusion is aggravated by the on-going political changes on the national, regional
and local fronts. As the struggle for political control persists, PRI relics in the form of
rearguard politicos attempting to protect their stronghold may thwart progress initiated
by the tecnicos of the PRI and opposition parties. Fortunately, a dynamic within the
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Mexican Constitution calls for a near complete overhaul o f appointed positions to
correspond with the new president’s sexenio. Under the Fox administration, the new
group of appointees may become the vanguard to protect and preserve Region X III
water resources.
The Cornejo de Cuenca del Valle de Mexico (CONSEJO)
While water quality is in its formative stages, Mexico’s water management is
well advanced by the CNA. Despite the focus on use-oriented programs and practices,
the CNA has begun to initiate a number o f measures that may optimize its water
management agenda. Currently, the CNA has divided Mexico into 13 regional offices
based upon watersheds. The CNA is now taking steps to incorporate a larger number of
water users into the decision making process. This step will encourage a broader scope
o f approaches and objectives to water consumption. Additionally, CNA progress with
water delivery might provide a base for institutionalizing a full-fledged water quality
program. However, the need for trained and empowered water professionals free of
bureaucratic intrusion is a crucial element that remains on the horizon.
Presently, the CNA plans to experiment with the utility o f subdividing the two
Region X III basins into six smaller subdivisions (three subdivisions for each basin).
Two of the chief CNA objectives include subdividing the six subdivisions to encompass
similar water consumers and to avoid political and bureaucratic inertia associated with
regions drawn along traditional political boundaries that fall under former PRI
oversight. This will provide CNA officials with the chance to concentrate on cost-
effective solutions amongst common water consumers in each of the six subdivisions
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within a coordinated framework (Mexico CNA, 1999; n.d). If successful, this plan will
be considered for water management throughout the nation.
One of the principal goals of the CNA’s agenda in Region X III is to develop an
innovative, integrated approach to water management by activating the CONSEJO. The
CONSEJO which consists of the CNA, representatives from the states o f Hidalgo,
Mexico, Tlaxcala and the Federal District, representatives of the major consumers such
as agriculture, aquaculture, industry, commercial and domestic is opening opportunities
for representatives of interest groups such as academic societies and Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) to play active roles (Mexico CNA, 1999). By setting this
foundation for interest group involvement, the CONSEJO has opened the door for
increased public participation in the professional and academic sectors. Interest groups
now have the opportunity to advocate for a comprehensive plan that might include the
regional and local agencies and a water quality program. This step will help to improve
the overall results o f the policy making process by incorporating the input o f interest
groups.
Despite the positive inroads initiated by the CONSEJO, the new water manage
ment plan for Region XITI in its early stages fails to make provisions for new water
quality programs. For example, the current CONSEJO agenda does not make provisions
for the regional and local agencies nor set goals for advancements in water quality
monitoring. This is a result o f the prevailing use-oriented water management. Yet,
water quality programs and institutions must become a cornerstone o f the CONSEJO
objectives or other reform programs.
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Noting the pressure posed by the growing number o f water consumers, the
CONSEJO initiated a cost and benefit study based upon a variety of water management
options. The analysis will generate the best options relative to both temporal and
budgetary constraints. The CONSEJO-initiated analysis considers a variety of water
management programs that will include such options as imported waters, recharge of
the basin aquifers, increased emphasis on conservation and renewed efforts at
reclaiming wastewater. A number o f the options under review will require the
involvement o f independent yet coordinated water quality programs and institutions.
To sustain Region X III surface and groundwater resources, the CONSEJO must make
provisions to counter the potential for contamination. This combined focus of
groundwater protection and production will improve the sustainability o f the Mexico
City Aquifer. In summary, CONSEJO management objectives might serve as a
precursor requiring an independent water quality institution.
The CONSEJO plan further indicates that experiences o f other countries to de
termine the parameters for successful water management should be considered (Mexico
CNA, 1999). The CONSEJO consideration o f examples from other countries is a
prudent decision to advance its evolving water management strategy. As the pending
water crisis in Mexico City amplifies, the framework established by the CONSEJO may
provide a foundation upon which water quality experts may design a well-crafted water
quality program. The beginning of a well-integrated and proactive water quality control
program will benefit greatly from inroads initiated by the CONSEJO water management
strategy. The results from the CNA experiment in Region X III hold much hope that the
prognosis for Mexico City’s water supply will be improved.
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Concluding Remarks
Based upon Mexico City’s burgeoning metropolitan water demands, the Val
ley’s strained hydrogeologic systems and emerging political competition among
neighboring basins toward Mexico City’s water appropriation practices, the former PRI
political culture is inundated with a pending water crisis condition that may present
political opportunities for the opposition and the pressure for water quality reform.
Signals o f a political shift that began to emerge at the polls in the 1980’s have reached
fruition with the presidential election o f opposition leader, Vicente Fox (2000). Under
the malleable political setting, it is plausible that the pending water crisis may receive
more attention. Directed attention may take the form o f opposition parties eager to
display their clout through introduction of solutions to the pending water crisis
including decentralized political control over the established water management
institutions and the initiative to implement water quality institutions. The gravity o f the
M C M Z’s water management and water quality crisis provides myriad solutions that
might produce rapid results, yet long-term, proactive changes require a much greater
political will and vision. Adopting short-term strategies might amplify the crisis.
A more pluralistic political culture, including greater democracy, would offer
more opportunities to achieve proactive, integrated strategies between water quality and
management. In the context o f establishing a water quality institution, a decentralized
political approach would introduce increased autonomy for water quality regulators to
meet their mission. A balanced political culture would also entail introducing more
public involvement. Therefore, Mexico City’s pending water crisis is a ripe political
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opportunity for ambitious political parties, environmental authorities, academic leaders
and interest groups.
Although Mexico City experienced earlier water crisis (1960s and 1980s), this
pending water crisis will not be resolved by the status quo approach o f the past that
emphasized larger water appropriation projects. The political oversight as it applies to
Mexico City’s water crisis is likely to decline but barring a clear vision and planning the
adjustments may be incremental. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the pending water
crisis will not be resolved by incremental approaches. Difficult decisions will be
required. For example, subsidization and distributive benefits remain entrenched
elements of Mexico City’s centralized growth model that will be difficult to eliminate.
Therefore, even as Mexico City’s political culture appears to be in flux, Mexico City’s
political decision-makers, environmental authorities and academic leaders may better
identify a model for a long-term water quality and management reform by considering
Los Angeles’ established water quality programs and institutions.
The Metropolitan Zone o f Los Angeles
Until the end of the nineteenth century, Los Angeles persisted as a small pueblo
under the political dominions o f Spain, Mexico and then the United States of America.
Remotely located from the respective power centers of these nation states, Los Angeles
received little political support or funding during its incipient growth stages. The semi-
arid climate further undermined its potential to develop into a metropolitan center.
Resources, opportunities and interest were scarce. However, with the inception of the
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American dominion, a motivated core of city elites initiated the development
mechanisms for urban growth in the Basin.
Located 2500 miles away from America’s capital in Washington D C. and de
void a large constituency, Los Angeles’ political significance remained dwarfed by
other western cities like San Francisco. Lack of rail connection to the east further
aggravated this physical distance making communication with federal legislators
difficult.
Los Angeles’ weak political position on the national scale limited early efforts to
obtain funding and legislative support from the federal government for the large-scale
growth plans foreshadowed by the city’s founders. Despite significant nineteenth-
century efforts to promote the fledgling city, few national contracts, and only small
scale funding for projects deemed of national significance were awarded to LAM Z
businesses. It became apparent that initial metropolitan growth would be based upon
internal resources and self-sufficiency. A chief obstacle was water scarcity. The city’s
ability to appropriate and control a vast network of local and external water resources
alleviate persistent water scarcity.
Motivated by development plans for the Basin and the need for progressive ex
pansion of the water network, Los Angeles elites and politicians became adroit at
winning local, state, and federal support and funding. The external water import
projects progressively required increased funding and federal legislative support.
Increasingly, development and urban growth required expanding the scope of external
water resources first within the limits o f California and later beyond state limits.
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Since the nineteenth century, elite involvement has been a cornerstone to suc
cessful water policy-making that enabled LAM Z development. With elite support and
direction, LAM Z urban development has remained intact and profitable. The latter has
been a unifying variable to elite participation in LAM Z politics. Initiated first by city
founders and later by an evolving guard o f elites, the involvement o f elites in LAM Z
development is distinct from the perceived impression of collaborative control. Instead,
groups of elites compete for power and control in the LA M Z (Davis, 1990). This
evolution of elites marshaled the LA M Z to megacity status by defying its handicaps and
optimizing its strengths. As of 1995, Los Angeles had evolved into the second largest
city in the United States o f America and the seventh largest in the world.
Political Framework
At the federal level, the United States o f America consists o f 50 autonomous
states, one federal district and a number o f recognized protectorates. The federal
district is located on the eastern seaboard in Washington D C. The federal government
is comprised o f the executive branch governed by an elected president, the legislative
branch governed by two congressional houses (the Senate and the House o f Representa
tives) representing each o f the 50 states and the judicial branch run by the Supreme
Court. Each state is represented by two elected Senators and a designated number of
representatives, in proportion to each state’s population. Supreme Court Justices
(lifetime term) are nominated by the President and approved by a Congressional panel.
Despite the nonpartisan nature of the Supreme Court Justice, the nomination and
subsequent approval of Supreme Court Justices manifest the long-term partisan
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ideology o f the executive branch that makes the nomination but allows some initial
input from each party via the Congressional approval process. Via the Supreme Court
Justices, each party projects its long-term influence on federal legal rulings of
Constitutional merit.
The American political forum includes a number of opposition parties but the
Democratic and Republican parties are dominant. Throughout the twentieth century,
the Democratic and Republican parties have enjoyed a dynamic dominion over the
executive and legislative branches. The dynamic flux in which each party establishes its
presence within federal politics has led to a system of checks and balances founded in
the vying interests o f the rival parties.
Federal rights and laws are decreed in the Constitution o f the United States of
America. In general the Constitution strikes a balance between strong central
government and state government. This balance also makes provisions for the
individual as well. One Constitutional right that empowers the individual is the right to
private property. This right plays a formative role in the political ideology of American
citizens. Most Americans feel that the right to private property affords them an
individual sense o f autonomy to defend personal interests.
American opinions may be critical o f the various levels of government but most
citizens have faith that corruption and misuse of political power is kept to a minimum.
For example, two American Presidents in the second half of the twentieth century
Richard Nixon, a Republican and Bill Clinton, a Democrat each had their executive
power challenged by independent panels for their actions while in office. In both cases,
the nation’s most powerful elected official was openly challenged, forced to face
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responsibility and reconcile the terms o f the court rulings before the public. The results
led Richard Nixon to resign from office and Bill Clinton was impeached but not
removed from office. Clinton retained his position but operates within limitations
including public scrutiny.
In addition to the federal government, each state provides an autonomous gov
ernment that sets state level rights and legislation. The framework for the state
government is modeled after the federal government. In general, each state is run by
elected governors, a legislative branch and a judicial branch. Within each state, cities,
towns and counties provide local representation. Typically, an elected mayor governs
each town or city and elected county officials preside over county decisions.
In the case of California, nineteenth-century politicians and elites fashioned a
political framework that established city and county representatives as nonpartisan
positions. Thus, local representatives are not politically polarized in their decision
making. Furthermore, the number o f city and county representative positions is limited
focusing the political representation into a small group. This small group of
representatives enhances the influence o f special interests over city and county matters.
This framework tends to reduce the checks and balances in the governmental structure.
Within LAM Z governments, the limited number o f elected officials amplifies
elite influence. In the City of Los Angeles, one mayor and fifteen ward representatives
govern. In Los Angeles County five representatives govern and in Orange County five
representatives govern. Furthermore, local representation by the major national
political institutions is diluted (Abu-Lughod, 1999). These conditions have historically
undermined local representation yet have enhanced special interests. Despite the low
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level o f local representation, City founding fathers were becoming resourceful at raising
local electoral support and funding for development projects. For example, the public
often united in electoral support for funding large-scale projects such as the LAA. The
Owens Valley vote for the initial funds to purchase the land and water rights following
long drought conditions resulted in a highly supportive vote. In summary, California
politics enhance city and county government performance at providing municipal
services, resources and stability but undermines public representation (Abu-Lughod,
1999).
The LAM Z is composed o f three significant governments. These include (1) the
City o f Los Angeles (the City), (2) Los Angeles County, and (3) Orange County. The
City o f Los Angeles is wholly enclosed within Los Angeles County. To a limited
extent, city and county level governmental bodies operate with a high degree o f
autonomy. However, the interconnection between the federal, state, county and city
governments entails a balance between autonomy and dependence. Abu-Lughod points
out that:
[sic] the special characteristics o f the American federal system, which theoreti
cally operates only in the zones o f power not reserved to the states; and the de
pendent juridical character o f municipalities, which are legally the “creatures” of
state-enabling legislation and are therefore never completely independent o f the
governmental level that created them. (Abu-Lughod 1999, 418)
The subtle interconnections o f all levels o f government within the LA M Z politi
cal culture is further complicated by the significant presence o f elites.
Operating outside the political spectrum, elites have played a significant role in
California’s politics further undermining local representation. In general, LA M Z elites
are a conglomerate o f business moguls and venture capital investors who profit from the
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development projects in the LAMZ. Owing to the reliance on local financial and
political leadership to provide the devices for development, these elites evolved as an
integral element of LAM Z politics. Mike Davis makes this point poignant in City o f
Quartz:,
Political power in Southern California remains organized by great constellations
o f private capital, which, as elsewhere, act as the permanent government in local
affairs. What is exceptional about Los Angeles is the extreme development of
what remains merely tendential in the evolution o f other American cities. (Davis
1990, 102)
Driven by the profits associated with each development phase, the LA M Z has offered
vast financial opportunities as the incentive for elite participation (Davis, 1990). “As a
general rule, changing modes o f land speculation have tended to determine the nature of
the Los Angeles’ power structures” (Davis 1990, 105). Abu-Lughod captures the
interaction between federal support and special interests that promoted and profited
from projects brought to the LAM Z.
Massive subsidies were also obtained from the federal government to improve
Los Angeles’s ports in Wilmington and San Pedro, and later the powers o f the
federal and city governments would be used to survey and then help acquire the
land and water o f the Owens Valley that Los Angeles needed for its reservoirs
and aqueducts. This close collusion between private enterprises and govern
mental powers in city building in the western United States gave Los Angeles’s
political economy its special character from the start. (Abu-Lughod 1999, 135)
In the case of the Owens Valley project, members o f the San Fernando Land Syndicate
became very wealthy after their land holdings received water from the Owens Valley
(Reisner, 1986; Davis, 1990; Abu-Lughod, 1999).
From the 1890s onward, elites have been instrumental at attracting national level
opportunities. Waves o f migrants seeking the jobs associated with these projects
followed. At first, early elites struggled to win political support at the federal and state
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level. Thus, the growth projected by the city founders stemmed from an internal
political power structure that relied on shrewd application of the taw and land
ownership to shift control and enhance local conditions for development. Elite
significance to LAM Z political culture is deeply rooted in the metropolitan zone’s
desolate origins. To some extent, the formidable challenges posed by climate, natural
surroundings and limited federal political support has fostered a degree of local
tolerance to the elite’s shrewd practices. As Marc Reisner points out in Cadillac Desert,
“Ever since their foremost minister had fled prosecution for land fraud, the citizens of
Los Angeles had grown accustomed to scandal, and the city’s temperament was quite
comfortable with graft” (Reisner 1986, 80)
The political and natural challenges facing Los Angeles dictated the need for
planned strategies to achieve the growth envisioned by city founders. The determined
elites progressively marshaled the prerequisite support and funding for the independent
development spurts that characterized LA M Z urban growth. Once the development
elements were in place, the urban growth cycles followed. Sustaining development
cycles became an elite preoccupation and access to water resources preceded
development.
At the beginning of the twentieth-century, legendary elites and civic leaders
such as Harry Chandler (owner o f the Los Angles Time), Collis P. Huntington (head of
the Southern Pacific Railroad) and William Mulholland (director o f the Los Angeles
Water Company) were deeply immersed in the political culture of the emerging yet
asymmetrical metropolitan growth. It was Mulholland who introduced a long-term
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water strategy based upon land ownership and legal tools in western water rights that
provided the avenue for the LAM Z ascent.
Early elites began a cycte o f development opportunities associated with real-
estate transactions as well as a number of national projects like the expansion of the
navy into the Pacific, expansion o f the aircraft industry and the introduction of
aerospace and missile technology. Despite the immense power o f the elites throughout
LA M Z history, no single group o f elites has amassed unilateral dominance over Los
Angeles. Instead, an evolving guard o f Los Angeles elites has influenced political
decision-making. As the twentieth century evolved, elites became progressively more
representative of the international community with particular influence from East Asia
(Davis, 1990).
Today, the LA M Z public interest is often represented through the presence of
interest groups. The emergence o f interest groups tends to balance the development-
driven, decision-making that dominates local politics. In general, the LA M Z political
culture is mature and relatively insulated from internal pressure. However, external
pressure from other states, diminished federal support and interest groups undermine
traditional LA M Z political devices. The LA M Z now contends with the same
stakeholders that evolved during a status quo favoring California. This history prompts
collective resistance to water policies that favor California and the LAM Z. The
subsequent political backlash jeopardizes historical water import solutions shifting
attention to local water supplies. What is more these stakeholders are now empowered
at the federal level. Additionally, interest groups have emerged as successful rivals to
extant and planned water appropriations. With this in mind, a brief review o f LAM Z
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evolution within the context of water rights displays the political culture o f development
that established the m egacity.
Political Antecedents
Los Angeles’ political history stems from the Spanish dominion of the prevail
ing northern California territory. In 1781, a land grant was decreed to establish Los
Angeles as a pueblo. The pueblo did not merit much political significance to the
Spanish governor serving more as an outpost. It was not until 1835 after Mexican
Independence from Spain that Los Angeles was decreed as the “capital” of the Mexican
territory. Notably, a Mexican government did not occupy Los Angeles until
approximately 1845 (Abu-Lughod, 1999). During the 1840’s, gold was found in
California. The advent of the Gold Rush and the miners that followed brought
significant American attention to California. By 1846, America and Mexico were at
war and Los Angeles came under American control by 1847. Los Angeles persisted
with only minor federal legislative approvals and funding. From 1847-1900, several
significant changes shaped the future for Los Angeles. This period witnessed the
alignment of the elements for a city, however, local solutions to the myriad of natural
challenges were rife with controversy.
During the later half of the nineteenth century, approximately half of modem
day Los Angeles County (4752 mi2 ) was occupied by roughly fifty ranchos (ranches)
(Abu-Lughod, 1999). The ra n ch o property owners limited the access and development
plans of American city founders. Subsequently, a land struggle ensued between the
original owners, Spanish and Mexican ranchers, and American founding fathers
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interested in opening the ranchos for development. Essentially, city founders utilized
legal tools to dissolve the land rights of the former owners (Erie, 1992). Chief amongst
these legal tools was The Land Grant Act of 1851. “The Land Grant Act of 1851
required confirmation of titles by the Mexican owners o f ranchos, which proved
disastrous for them” (Abu-Lughod 1999, 57). Following the ensuing land contest,
private investors spent great efforts to promote and sell the open tracts to mid-western
American migrants. Mid-western migrants consumed the available land. With a
growing American constituency and a viable location for the city government, the
foundation for future development was set in place. Despite fledgling development, the
LA M Z was not recognized as a city with the potential for growth that would attract
federal funding and support.
Prior to the twentieth-century, the city benefited from several national projects
supported by the federal government but projects with local value rarely received state
and government support. For example, the City was awarded federal funding for a new
seaport at San Pedro and a direct railroad link to the East Coast after much financial
coaxing. In the 1870s, the city founders inspired the local government to pursue
political policies that attracted the Southern Pacific Railroad to Los Angeles. This
objective required raising a local financial incentive that was obtained with voter
approval. Janet Abu-Lughod refers to this subsidy as a “bribe” (Abu-Lughod, 1999)
while Davis describes the payment as “tribute” (Davis, 1992). The result was an
extension to the port in San Pedro that benefited Los Angeles and reduced Santa
Monica’s presences as a commercial port. This case indicates how the elites “skillfully
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manipulated the electoral process to secure voter approval for the large subsidy
necessary to bring the Southern Pacific Railroad to Los Angeles” (Erie 1992, 521).
The city founders’ successes started emerging at an incremental pace. The in
cremental progress provided the foundation to later economic growth and development.
Notably, the budding successes were staggered and lacked the coalescing component:
water. Without water, development remained curtailed by local water scarcity.
Overcoming this impediment involved deriving favorable water access from an
evolution o f western water rights that spanned seven centuries. The basis for the
LA M Z’s successful twentieth-century water policies is founded in Spanish laws dating
back to the thirteenth century. These antecedents provided the initial legal mechanism
determining water rights in the Spanish territory o f California alta (now the State of
California).
The Spanish dominion o f California ushered in a European outlook on natural
resources. Natural resources were to be exploited to ensure the prosperity o f the
crown’s citizens. Furthermore, all natural resources within Spanish territories fell under
Spain’s legal framework. This placed water under the Spanish crown’s uncontested
control. In summary, individual rights to water did not exist but remained under the
jurisdiction of the monarchy. The Spanish crown in turn made water provisions for the
community.
This exclusive provisional control o f water began to unravel as the interests of
competing regional water consumers forced consideration of new means to allocate
water rights. Between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, California’s
major water consumers were the missions, pueblos and ranchos. In an effort to expand
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Catholicism, the missions received preferential treatment including water resources.
Furthermore, many times missions were located upstream from the pueblos and
ranchos. Satisfying their demands first, the missions often diminished water flow to the
their southerly neighbors and subsequently their prosperity. In response, the pueblos
and ranchos began to challenge the provisional rights bestowed on the missions by the
monarch and to seek a resolution to reapportion water access. As California changed
from Spanish to Mexican governments, the practices o f traditional Hispanic water laws
remained much the same. However, with the dominion o f the American government,
water rights began to undergo elaborate transformation.
During the 1840’s, gold was found in California. Droves o f American prospec
tors moved west to stake their claim. Using large quantities of water to mine the gold
ore, the gold miners ushered in a real need to better define water rights for the
individual. To prevent conflicts and establish equality among the water consumers, the
miners utilized a self-governing approach favoring first in time, first in right. This
method of allocation provided an individual water consumption right to establish water
access but not ownership o f the water. A water consumer that established usage of a
water supply prior to any other consumer had exclusive rights to use any quantity of
that water. Considering the motility of this class of water consumer, the crucial element
of this right was that once the water usage ceased the individual consumer forfeited that
usage right. A new water consumer could later claim the same water supply. This
allocation method received recognition by the United States Congress and an
appropriation right was legally established (Hundley, 1992).
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The usage oriented appropriation right was a good fit for motile water consum
ers such as miners but stationary water consumers such as property owners began to
devise ways to establish exclusive rights to water based upon land ownership. Property
owners advocated for riparian water rights. This method of water allocation is based
upon the individual’s physical residence on the land adjacent to or through which a
body o f water runs or resides. Riparian rights provide owners an equal right to water so
long as the usage does not impair the usage o f another riparian. Like the appropriation
right, water is not owned but the right to use it is established. Legal recognition o f this
allocation method was established in 1850 (Hundley, 1992).
Legal establishment o f these two water rights presented a conflict when the
more motile water consumers that favored appropriation rights encountered
opportunities in riparian zones. Thus, two water rights with the potential to create
conflicts were legally established in California. This legal dilemma set the stage for
forthcoming water disputes in the semi-arid, American southwest.
Within the context of the LAM Z, neither of these two water rights provided the
founding fathers the legal basis or mechanism to provide the quantities o f water
required for the planned development. Therefore, a set o f laws that allowed Los
Angeles options to overcome local water scarcity became the focus o f the early
founding fathers. These early elites set out to appropriate vast quantities of water
resources. To achieve this goal, they turned toward the Hispanic law with its
antecedents from the thirteenth century that provided a pueblo right.
Under the provisions o f this right, a pueblo would be entitled to prior and para
mount rights to all nearby rivers and water sources. Seeking a legal finding, city elites
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began a campaign to establish the City’s claim to a pueblo right. The City of Los
Angeles sought to utilize the court system to substantially solidify the City’s control of
the nearby water sources. The City pursued legislative modifications to its charter that
established the City’s right to all waters flowing in the Los Angeles River. This motion
was granted. Los Angeles continued to pursue its pueblo right claim until court
findings in the 1895 Vernon Irrigation Co. v. Los Angeles provided the legal right for
Los Angeles to control the watershed surrounding Los Angeles Securing the pueblo
right provided a reliable network o f local water resources opening the door for
metropolitan growth otherwise not possible (Hundley, 1992).
As the City began to succeed in the competition for local water competition, the
capacity to deliver water required an entity to implement and operate the infrastructure.
Therefore, a private company, the Los Angeles City Water Company was established to
carry out the task of delivering water to the growing city. It became obvious that this
private enterprise was not suitable to manage water in proportion to the projected water
demand. By the beginning o f the twentieth century, the City of Los Angeles purchased
the company and the water delivery service became a public enterprise. By the turn of
the century, Los Angeles successfully had in place the legal tools, the infrastructure and
a water management institution to deliver local water. Progressively, the burgeoning
metropolitan zone became reliant on legal tools to expand the local water budget. By
the start of the twentieth century, the political culture and the future o f the megacity
revolved around water politics.
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Twentieth-Century Politics
In the American southwest, water rights and access are significant indicators of
prosperity and growth for water consumers. The competition for water in this semi-arid
region and the resulting disputes has led toward a rapid evolution o f well-defined water
rights. For the LAMZ, the twentieth century emerged as an epoch o f water acquisition,
via a series of external water appropriation projects, such as (1) the Los Angeles
Aqueduct (LAA), (2) the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA), and (3) the State Water
Project (SWP). These water appropriation projects were precursors to metropolitan
development. Each twentieth-century metropolitan development spurt hinged on
increasing the local water budget.' From 1900-1960, these import projects provided a
high degree o f security that Los Angeles would have sufficient water to perpetuate
development.
In the beginning o f the twentieth century, Los Angeles proceeded to establish
the elaborate water networks that promoted Los Angeles’ evolution toward megacity
status During this period, a number o f initial conservation measures were implemented
to reduce consumption and optimize water delivery. Some o f these measures included a
reorganization o f the water company into a water management institution, the City of
Los Angeles Department o f Water and Power (LA DWP), metering the delivery
network, diversifying the field o f institutions within the water management framework
and introducing artificial recharge.
One of the original visionaries and advocates o f the water network was William
Mulholland Mulholland initiated the epoch o f water appropriation projects that
provided Los Angeles the vital water resources to propel urban development and
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establish political clout (Hundley, 1992). By the beginning of the twentieth century,
Mulholland took control of the LA DWP, the public enterprise in charge of water
delivery. Under his direction, Los Angeles began to implement water policies to realize
the destiny foreshadowed by the city’s nineteenth-century founding fathers and elites.
For example, he set in motion ordinances to cut water rates, to install water meters
throughout Los Angeles and appropriate external water resources within the state
(Hundley, 1992).
One o f Mulholland’s most successful yet infamous projects involved the Owens
Valley. The LAA reaching up to the Owens Valley (north of Los Angeles) imported
water 250 miles to Los Angeles. The distance was considered an impediment but the
water resources reside at 4000 feet above sea level and Los Angeles resides at sea level.
Thus, water delivery relied on gravity eliminating the costs associated with pumping.
The Owens Valley water resources were estimated to be sufficient for approximately
2 million consumers (Fogelson, 1993). From Mulholland and his colleagues’
perspective, the LAA was the natural solution to expand the City o f Los Angeles’ water
deficit.
Controversy marked this water appropriation project from the start. The Owens
Valley residents and business enterprises planned to utilize the water for their own
development plans and felt their tenure on the land established their claim to this water.
Despite land purchases of the Owens Valley on the part o f city representatives, many
interested parties contest the tactics employed and consider the LA A to epitomize the
City’s actions as conspiratorial. Remi Nadeau expresses this point:
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It is true that some city officials used questionable political methods to kill fed
eral development in the Owens Valley, gain rights-of-way, and hold water fil
ings; that they failed to build a reservoir at the head of the aqueduct which
would have prevented the need for desolating Owens Valley; that for several
years they had no settled land-buying policy, causing loss o f confidence among
valley citizens; that they hurt business in the towns by the purchase o f farms but
refused to assume responsibility for such losses. Such are the grievances o f the
valley people. (Nadeau 1974, 107)
In order to secure the water resources in the Owens Valley that increased the City of
Los Angeles water supply by five fold (Abu-Lughod, 1999), city representatives under
the apparent direction o f city officials such as Mulholland relied on stealth and land
purchases to appropriate the water that it lacked (Reisner, 1986). In reference to the
ruthless appropriation o f the Owens Valley water resources, Mark Reisner’s Cadillac
Desert depicts how Los Angeles relied on cloak and dagger methodologies to import
the water it did not have within its own limits:
Los Angeles employed chicanery, subterfuge, spies, bribery, a campaign o f
divide-and-conquer, and a strategy of lies to get the water it needed. In the end,
it milked the valley bone-dry, impoverishing it, while the water made a number
of prominent Los Angeleans very, very rich. There are those who would argue
that if all this was legal, then something is the matter with the law. (Reisner
1986, 65)
Beyond the conflicting opinions, the completion of the LA A displayed that the City was
committed to development. Meanwhile, the adept utilization of land purchases to
appropriate the water it needed provided a legal precedent.
In review of the LA A details, the project followed a logical sequence o f events.
The project was made public in 1905 and two bonds were proposed to purchase Owens
Valley land and build the LAA. After a long period of drought in the beginning years
of the twentieth century, “the citizens voted for the aqueduct with unprecedented
enthusiasm” (Nelson 1983, 77). In 1905, the LA A received the first of two overwhelm-
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ing electoral victories by the margin o f 14-to-l for a $1.5 million bond to purchase land
and acquire water rights in the Owens Valley. In 1907, an additional $23 million
proposal to build the LAA won by a margin of 10-to-l (Blomquist, 1992). The first
LAA water was delivered in 1913. The completion of the LAA provided the water
required for planned development.
Los Angeles leadership next introduced a demand-side component through an
nexation. The elites o f the City o f Los Angeles began a policy of creating a city with
metropolitan demands based upon the cumulative demands o f the neighboring towns.
In an effort to capitalize on surplus water, city elites began to consolidate the
neighboring communities via electoral annexations. During this period, many smaller
towns resided in the Basin. With the discovery o f oil in 1868, some of these cities such
as Long Beach, Huntington Beach and Torrance became very wealthy based upon oil
revenues. Meanwhile, most of the towns lacked such sources o f revenues. With this
dichotomy, the less fortunate cities were persuaded to annex into the expanding City of
Los Angeles via 73 separate electoral annexation votes (Abu-Lughod, 1999). In return,
these towns received affordable and reliable water resources controlled by the City of
Los Angeles. The annexations provided the City a means to expand its geographic area,
population base and political jurisdiction. Consolidation of the local towns and the
complete control of the region’s water resources allowed the City o f Los Angeles to
become a major water supplier in Southern California. At this stage in the water
appropriation epoch, the LA DWP emerged as the dominant water management
institution in the LAMZ.
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The success of the water policies put in place by Mulholland and his colleagues
created a mechanism for sustained development well into the future. Water access, land
development and the subsequent capital investments spurred on the economy and urban
growth o f the LAMZ. Hundley points out the crucial significance o f Mulholland’s
water policies to long-term metropolitan development:
Driving this development, and constituting Mulholland’s preeminent legacy,
was his policy of bringing in water in advance of need. It was a policy designed
with a great city in mind and for a distant future. As late as 1980 and with a
population of 3 million, Los Angeles could meet eighty percent o f its water
needs with imported supplies from the Owens Valley and Mono Basin.
(Hundley 1992, 168)
Legal control over a network o f the Owens Valley and other external watersheds was
the precursor to large-scale LA M Z development projects.
With the progressive expansion o f the City’s water resources, elites and political
leaders became increasingly adroit at winning federal funding and approval for water
appropriation projects. Abu-Lughod describes how the elites made use of governments
to overcome water scarcity as a precursor to the land development plans:
Land, whether for residential or industrial purposes, was useless without a
dependable water supply, and even before the opening years o f the twentieth
century it was becoming apparent that a water shortage might impose the most
stringent “limits to growth” for the state and its cities. The manner in which Los
Angeles addressed this potential problem illustrates quite dramatically the typi
cal pattern of interactions between local and federal governments and the man
ner in which local elites were able to use both to execute their plans. (Abu-
Lughod 1999, 145)
Development established the LA M Z as the premier city in the American southwest and
water access preceded development. LA M Z elites and political leaders recognized this
and responded by promoting favorable water rights for the LAMZ.
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Favorable water rights have been the necessary variable sustaining the rhythm of
land development cycles (Davis, 1990). Despite the profits associated with land
development, the elevated expense of additional water projects required a successful
strategy to assemble the financial resources and governmental approvals. Expanding
the water network required planning and preparation before increased metropolitan
demand was realized. The success o f the public water authorities and elites lay in their
ability to accurately predict future demand and source the necessary funding and
legislative approval. This required these players to master the financial and political
approvals process.
After the completion o f the LAA, the planning for the CRA introduced an ex
panded field of stakeholders referred to as the Colorado River Basin States that includes
seven American states (California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and
Wyoming) and territories o f northern Mexico. These stakeholders planned to expand
their water budgets with water from the Colorado River Basin. However, in the early
1920’s , these stakeholders exhibited various levels o f political clout and prevailing
demand when they entered into negotiations to apportion the water.
Prior to these negotiations, California had established an appropriation right
that progressively maximized its water access at the long-term expense of rival
stakeholders. Challenges from rival stakeholders seeking a more equitable resolution
led to negotiations referred to as the Colorado River Compact (The Compact). In
general, the 1922 Compact apportioned water rights with agreements that satisfied
California’s more pronounced water demands and the emerging requirements o f the
other stakeholders (Hundley, 1992). As California had established an advanced water
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demand and the water demands o f the other basin states were not near their apportioned
limits, southern California benefited from the consumption o f unapportioned water for
the short term.
Starting in the 1920s, the Colorado Basin States negotiated to achieve an agree
ment defining the apportionment for each stakeholder o f the estimated 17.5 million
acre-feet water resources in the Colorado River Basin (Reisner, 1986). The 1922
Colorado River Compact divided the Basin into two groups: the Upper Basin
(Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico) and the Lower Basin (California, Arizona
and Nevada). Based upon the estimated 17.5 million acre-feet water resources, each
basin group received 7.5 million acre-feet. O f the remaining 2.5 million acre-feet,
Mexico received 1.5 million acre-feet and 1 million acre-feet were apportioned to the
Lower Basin to satisfy these stakeholders’ threat to walkout o f the negotiations unless
they received a better deal. Milestones o f the Colorado River Compact included:
(1) the suspension o f prior appropriation rights that progressively favored California
and (2) the share for each stakeholder was not predetermined (Reisner, 1986).
Legislation following the Colorado River Compact established California’s share o f the
Lower Basin 7.5 million acre-feet at 4.4 million acre-feet and no more than 50 per cent
of the unallocated water in the Colorado River Basin (Hundley, 1992).
On the macro-scale, California exercised substantial political influence to
maximize its share o f the watershed resources. On the micro-scale, the LA M Z rallied
support from local towns to help pay for the CRA. The local voters approved a $221
million dollar bond by a 5-to-l margin. Additionally, a new water institution was
established to manage and wholesale the water to southern California consumers. The
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Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (M W D) was established to carry out
this task and quickly became the premier water management institution in southern
California (Reisner, 1986; Hundley, 1992). With time, the M W D contracted with 27
member agencies providing water at wholesale prices. Under the framework o f
member agencies, wholesalers and retailers provide water to purveyors that include
private enterprise. Final consumers receive water from the purveyors.
Through the agreement o f the Compact, the LAM Z evolved into a successful
political player capable o f assembling support and funding at the federal, state and local
levels to advance almost any water project. Norris Hundley depicts the prevailing
optimism that the Colorado River Aqueduct promoted:
The availability of Colorado River water beginning in the 1940s nonetheless had
a profound psychological effect on city leaders and planners. It obliterated any
sense o f restraint about Los Angeles’s capacity to absorb even more people and
industries. For surrounding communities, the abundant new supply, including
the vast quantity o f water unneeded by Los Angeles and available to them, en
couraged growth otherwise not possible. (Hundley 1992, 229-230)
With this mechanism, the LA M Z future looked infallible. However, the CRA might be
the apex of California and Los Angeles dominion o f water resources in the American
southwest. The domestic and industrial growth and subsequent water demand in the
other Basin states prompted a number o f legal challenges. The long-term impact of the
Colorado River Compact negotiations between the stakeholders would be definitive to
the pace o f growth realized by each stakeholder.
Furthermore, a reevaluation of the Colorado River Basin in the mid-1960s indi
cated that the total water reserves might not exceed 13.5 million acre-feet. The
awareness of the reevaluation and the growth of the Compact stakeholder states
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heightened water rights competition. The pressure to enforce the original apportion
ment increased in proportion to the growing water demands among these Compact
stakeholders. A political backlash initiated by the other Compact stakeholders began to
undermine the unprecedented dominion formerly enjoyed by California and the LAM Z.
The stage was set for a court battle between neighboring Basin states, Arizona and
California (Reisner, 1986; Hundley, 1992).
As Arizona grew in population, commerce and political clout, its needs for in
creased water supplies clashed with the flexible agreements o f the Colorado River
Compact that benefited southern California with Arizona’s share o f the unapportioned
water. Emboldened by pending water crisis and growing political standing, Arizona
pursued a court challenge to settle with California to relinquish the water required for
Arizona’s growth. Arizona began a long-standing series of challenges that eventually
led to the 1963 Arizona v. California finding in the United States Supreme Court.
In Arizona v. California, the United States Supreme Court finding was not a
definitive victory for either stakeholder but the results substantially altered southern
California’s access to the shared water supply. Under the finding, the share o f external
water resources available to southern California and subsequently Los Angeles was
scheduled to decline. Norris Hundley identifies the impact o f the court finding:
Thus, as Arizona began taking its share of water and as the upper states and
Mexico used increasingly more o f what was already legally theirs, Californians
would be forced to cut back their uses by 962,000 acre-feet. O f that amount
about seventy percent (662,000 acre-feet) would have to be surrendered by
MW D. (Hundley 1992, 303)
This landmark finding has severely altered Los Angeles’ outlook on unfettered access to
its largest water supply. Subsequently, the status quo o f the statewide water politics that
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allowed Los Angeles to thrive in semi-arid southern California was significantly
undermined. This finding can be viewed as the turning point for California and LAMZ
water supremacy. Within California, increased competition for water resources began
to emerge and the legal noose continued to tighten around the LA M Z diminishing
access to in-state resources as well.
Following the same trend as the Compact, the City of Los Angeles lost a number
of concessions with special interest groups within California. For example, the LAA
that sustained water withdrawals at the expense o f Owens Valley residents has become
symbolized by environmental degradation wrought on Mono Lake. The ecological
impacts of these water withdrawals diminished water to support local water consumers
and disrupted the sensitive aquatic habitat. Mono Lake serves as a habitat for a number
o f rare fauna such as brine shrimp and flies that sustain a large portion o f California’s
migratory fowl. The lake also serves as a breeding ground for California gulls
(Hundley, 1992; Blomquist, 1992). The most apparent symbol o f ecological decline is
the large salt towers left behind the receding lake. These towers are now visible as
remains that reveal the negative impact of LA DWP water withdrawals from the lake
ecosystem. Norris Hundley describes the chilling results: “Punctuating parts of the lake
surface and perimeter were stark white monoliths or tufa created by the interaction of
alkaline lake water and fresh water from springs. These unique towers were formed
underwater and exposed by the declining lake level” (Hundley 1992, 235). On both the
national and state level, public perception began to weigh heavily against the City o f
Los Angeles water policies and practices. The Mono Lake towers became national
symbols of ecological degradation.
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Within California, the Owens Valley sentiment toward water withdrawals is so
charged that civil disobedience began to occur in separate incidents including: (1) the
explosion of a section of the aqueduct in 1976, (2) the shooting of an arrow attached to
a stick o f dynamite into William Mulholland Memorial Fountain in Los Angeles, and
(3) destruction o f a city-owned gate that prevented water from reaching a popular valley
lake (Hundley, 1992).
New environmental preservation and protection guidelines also began to factor
into the equation for future water appropriation. The prevailing guidelines o f the new
environmental legislation incorporate protection of the environment into the decision
making equation for new development projects. Under more stringent environmental
legislation, ecological destruction, overlooked earlier in the twentieth century, now
presents a significant obstacle. The LA M Z now experiences difficulties obtaining
approval for the environmental impact reports (EIR ) required for future water
appropriation projects and expansion o f extant infrastructure.
Recently, special interest groups have successfully utilized the court system to
reverse water appropriations and reduce water withdrawals. A number o f interest groups
including Owens Valley property and business owners, in addition to academic and
environmental associations initiated a number o f challenges to the LA DWP over the
LAA. In fact, a number of successful court decisions including: (1) the 1989
California Trout, Inc. v. State Water Resources Control Board (Cal Trout I) that
involved the City of Los Angeles and interested parties and (2) the 1990 California
Trout, Inc. v. The Superior Court o f Sacramento County (Cal Trout II) that involved the
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LA DWP both ruled against the City of Los Angeles’ indiscriminate water appropria
tions from Mono Lake.
In Cal Trout I, the court found that the LA DWP water withdrawals from Mono
Lake were in violation of the Fish and Game Code 5946. L A DWP water withdrawals
have reduced fish habitat below legal levels. This finding mandated that sufficient
water must be made available to keep the fish below the dam in good health.
In Cal Trout II, the court found that immediate compliance with Cal Trout I
would be achieved by attaching the conditions from Cal Trout I to the City appropria
tion licenses and interim release rates. The trial court would determine the release rates
until a designated board produced final determination for the release rates. In effect, the
second case eliminated delays in implementing Cal Trout I. Such findings contrast with
the prior status quo and signal a shift in the LA M Z supremacy in southwestern regional
water rights.
Progressively, water control within California began to take on a more competi
tive nature. The growing demands of agriculture, industry and domestic water
consumers groups put enormous pressure on the water institutions to supply adequate
water. Although the 1895 Vernon Irrigation Co. v. Los Angeles case established a
pueblo right for the City of Los Angeles, a number of questions remain about the legal
standing o f the case presented. This became apparent in a successful court challenge in
1975, City o f Los Angeles v. City o f San Fernando, in which, the lower court reversed a
prior decision substantiating a pueblo right for the City o f Los Angeles. The finding
summary describes the rationale for the setback.
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Despite prior Supreme Court decisions upholding plaintiffs [City of Los Ange
les] pueblo right, the trial court found that such right had no support in Spanish
or Mexican law and that statements o f the right in some o f the cases were based
solely on erroneous translations, incomplete and inaccurate citations, and un-
supportable conclusions drawn therefrom. (City of Los Angeles v. City of San
Fernando 14 C. 3d 1975, 199)
The City o f Los Angeles appealed the finding to the state supreme court. The court
applied the principle o f stare decisis (the court tendency to let former findings stand
especially those with significant results) (Hundley, 1992).
The appeal essentially found that the City o f Los Angeles had a pueblo right to
the native groundwater in the San Fernando Valley Basin (SFVB) so long as the water
extracted was utilized for municipal and domestic needs of the City’s population.
Additionally, the defendants as well as the City o f Los Angeles both had rights to SFVB
groundwater based upon the amount of water imported by each party. The pueblo right
was restored but the contest over the pueblo right points toward the questionable, one
sided court interpretation that granted the pueblo right to the City o f Los Angeles
(Reisner, 1986). With these legal developments, the status quo favoring complete
control of Owens Valley water supplies had also begun to shift. This finding is a
milestone because it signified the vulnerability o f the legal standings that established the
City’s supremacy over the water network to be reversed by competitive interests.
Legal findings favoring in-state and out-of-state challenges heightened the com
petitiveness for the local and external water supplies. On the regional scale, California
has begun to loose much of its supremacy relative to western water rights. On the local
level, the LA M Z now competes against individual and coalitions o f empowered and
motivated rivals and interest groups for the finite water resources in the American
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southwest. This shift triggered the need for a new set of tactics that would ensure water
supplies for important water consumers such as developers. As Rory O ’Brien points
out, these tactics included influencing politicians.
The water barons [the group o f real estate developers, corporate agri-business
interests, and water purveyors who seemingly control water resource manage
ment in California] have gained control o f water resources not through holding
political offices or by directing state agencies, but rather through well-placed
campaign contributions. (O ’Brien 1992, 110)
Monetary contributions influenced the political players at or near election time allowing
select water consumers to continue to secure their long-term interest, unfettered water
access.
As the LA M Z begins to experience the impacts of the court finding in Arizona
vs. California and the myriad legal cases favorable status quo water policies and
practices will continue to shift to the detriment o f the LAM Z. Reliance on external
water resources is no longer an option for expanding the water budget. Legal tools
formerly utilized to secure water access are now being used against the LA M Z water
management institutions such as the LA DWP and M W D , wholesalers, retailers and
purveyors. Therefore, the semi-arid megacity has begun to focus its effort on optimizing
its local water budget. A large part o f that commitment includes protecting and
preserving the integrity of the Basin’s local water resources and innovating new
technologies, practices and institutional approaches to: (1) reduce water demands and
(2) optimize water delivery.
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Water Policies
Until 1963, Los Angeles focused its attention on water production comple
mented by conservation measures. This focus ultimately led Los Angeles to attain
sufficient water supplies for phased development. Although an ephemeral control
existed, it existed long enough to enable the phenomenal twentieth-century growth.
However, the LAM Z water management institutions must contend with the water
demand presented by 12.4 million residents, a productive agricultural belt and active
industrial zones. Under this large demand and frequent drought conditions, water
supply is inelastic. These conditions result in drought and average year water strategies
that affect water demand and supply.
In 1994, water consumption in the LA M Z was on the order o f 2.2 million acre-
feet (maf) per year but has been as much as 2.6 maf during the 1990s. The most
pressing deterrent to the LA M Z water budget is the reconciliation with the findings of
Arizona v. California, a 662,000 acre-feet reduction. The LA M Z relies on M W D for
imported water from the CRA and SWP that accounts for 50 per cent of the Los
Angeles County water supply and approximately 20 per cent o f the Orange County
water supply. A t present, the date for this reconciliation has been delayed until 2015
since not all the compact states have fully utilized their appropriated water rights.
Furthermore, surplus water (due to flood conditions) that must be released provides
water to satisfy California’s extended water withdrawals. When the conditions prevail
such that M W D must reduce its consumption to offset the court ordered reduction, the
megacity will face a formidable challenge.
Within the context o f diminishing external water resources and frequent drought
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conditions, the pressure of the burgeoning demand from domestic, agricultural and
industrial water consumer groups has forced the LAM Z to progressively innovate
advanced alternatives to satisfy water demand. In general, these stringent conditions
have forced the LAMZ to be at the forefront of water policy-making and technology.
Fundemental practices to optimize water consumption such as metering, promoting
conservation, developing artificial recharge and institutional approaches to water
management within the interconnected local water resources are already in place. By
continuing to look inward and employing the resilience and tenacity which led to water
supremacy in the American southwest, a matrix of water management solutions will
continue to evolve. Paralleing twentieth century success, these forthcoming solutions
may be applicalbe to other megacities.
Water p o lic y obstacles
The obstacles that now face Los Angeles are similar to those 150 years ago: the
climate is semi-arid, droughts are frequent and local water resources are scarce. The
difference is that today water consumption is dramatically increased. The number one
anthropogenic obstacle to water management in the LA M Z is the law that now
incorporates a more polycentric focus on multiple stakeholders in the American
southwest. Under the new status quo, California and the LAM Z no longer enjoy the
same plane of influence.
Additionally, the local water budget of the Basin provides approximately 50 per
cent of the water supply. This local water budget includes surface and groundwater
resources within the Basin as well as water resources in the Owens Valley (approxi-
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mateSy 250 miles to the north) and Mono Lake (approximately 338 miles to the north).
After purchasing nearly 98.5 per cent o f the Owens Valley totaling about 242,000 acres,
Los Angeles effectively owned this water resources and it is now considered part of the
local water resources (Nelson, 1983). This water supply is under persistent political and
legal challenge that led to court decisions to reduce withdrawals to as little as 100,000
acre-feet. Prior to the reductions, withdrawals averaged 360,000 acre-feet in recent
years (California DWR, 1998).
New water appropriation projects are not likely yet there is potential relief in a
larg§ SWP entitlement that might offset some of the water losses scheduled for the LAA
and CRA. However, as the competition for water within the state intensifies, it is
probable that new challenges to the large SWP entitlement will emerge. Considering
the results o f Arizona v. California, Cal Trout I and Cal Trout II, the potential new
water from the SWP entitlement may be problematic.
Water quality challenges
Since World War II, the LA M Z industrialized at a rapid pace following an
abundance o f military and federal contracts tied to the war effort, aviation and later
aerospace. A consequence o f this phenomenal economic growth is the prolific chemical
discharges that now exist as subsurface plumes composed of high concentrations of
known carcinogens such as TCE, PCE and BTEX. During approximately 50 years of
unregulated, laissez fair industrial operations, the geologic layers underlying the surface
became exposed to contamination leaks. Even the clay layers that are somewhat
impermeable have been breached after saturation, via fractures within these formations
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and overflowing the edges of the confining layers. Furthermore, the general
southwesterly flow o f the main groundwater basins provides a mechanism for
expanding the contamination to downgradient basins.
Considering the pending water challenges that will soon reemerge based solely
upon the water management side of the equation, a water quality program has been
implemented to reduce the impact o f contamination on the local water budget. This
water quality program is legally established with links from the federal to the local
level. Since its inception in the 1980s, this program has undergone a number of
modifications progressively improving the directives and implementation. It has
already under gone one major revision following the initial “laissez fair” years o f the
program and it is now experiencing a shift that emphasizes enforcement. The main
water quality agency in the LAM Z, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control
Board (LA RWQCB) developed a set o f guidelines to assess and remediate contamina
tion sources. Within the context o f initial site assessment, the LA RWQCB identifies
the potential sources.
The key areas of concern for an assessment and/or cleanup are primarily
limited to potential sources o f contamination, which include facilities,
equipment or materials that maybe leaking chemicals, wastewater,
solvents, gasoline, etc., into the soil or have leaked these types of
substances into the soil in the past. (California LA RWQCB 1996, 3-1)
This program incorporates a macro-scale mission and vision backed by micro-scale
directives, responsibilities and guidelines for all stakeholders and regulators. The
strength o f the water quality program is its dynamic nature.
Managing water quality and quantity remain separate but cooperative endeavors.
As water agencies, wholesalers, retailers and purveyors testing production wells begin
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to encounter contamination, the increased pressure to produce more potable water from
the groundwater basins will heighten the legally mandated cooperative framework that
exists between the water quality and management authorities.
Water management challenges
Traditional water management within California and the LA M Z has been based
upon optimizing yields through production complemented by conservation. These
measures focused on increasing the water budget while decreasing consumption. The
innovative governance, utilization and conservation of water production is advanced in
the LA M Z and involves a vast network o f water management bodies including:
(1) water agencies that appropriate water from external watersheds, (2) water
wholesalers that purchase water from the water agencies, (3) water retailers that
purchase water from wholesalers, (4) water purveyors that purchase water from
wholesalers and retailers and (5) final consumers. This network involves water
management institutions and private enterprise.
In general, the water institutions that manage external water supplies that in
clude the LA DWP and the M W D and those that manage local water supplies include
water agencies such as the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (W RD)
and watermasters such as the Upper Los Angeles River Area Watermaster (ULARA).
Both types of water management institutions ensure accurate pricing is charged for
water delivery. The differential in pricing and availability mandate a carefully
accounted balance between the utilization of internal and external water resources. This
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management approach: (1) encourages conservation and innovative water projects, and
(2) signals the value and availability of water.
In the past, water purveyors and private enterprises, within the Basin extensively
pumped their respective groundwater basins in an effort to maximize profits from water
sales. In California, groundwater has been treated as an open access resource.
Therefore, there was no incentive to conserve as other consumers will continue to
withdraw water. However, in a water scarce region, the traditional California approach
summed up as “pump now litigate later” lead to extreme overdraft conditions that
jeopardized the sustainability of the aquifers.
In order to reconcile the needs of all local stakeholders, the producers in the ma
jor LA M Z groundwater basins adopted management approaches that required voluntary
pumping management. Most stakeholders identified the preservation o f groundwater as
beneficial and enrolled as members. Accepting the terms o f these management
structures occasionally required stakeholders to reduce pumping. Under this
cooperative strategy, pumping datum, groundwater levels, water quality results and
other information is available in reports generated on regular intervals.
The two management approaches include (1) court adjudication and (2) self-
governed management. In Los Angeles County, the SFVB, SGVB and CPLAC were
adjudicated. Adjudication o f each groundwater basin effectively institutionalized most
stakeholders within each groundwater basin into a legally mandated cooperative
agreement. Through this process, each groundwater basin was assigned a watermaster
that oversees the pumping activities. The watermaster determines the permissible
groundwater yields. In general, each watermaster coordinates the results o f its
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monitoring with the LA RWQCB within a cooperative framework. The major basin in
Orange County, the CPOC institutionalized its groundwater basin under a self-
governing management structure.
In the case of the SGVB, the qualitative integrity of the basin is threatened by
the historical presence of identified sources of contamination from military, aviation
and aerospace enterprises. As this basin is a water source for several downstream
groundwater basins, the presence o f significant industrial contamination led to listing
several cases within the federal Superfund. Under a cooperative water quality program
involving the EPA and the LA RWQCB, this program provides assessment and
remediation guidelines that ensure an equitable solution to the needs of all stakeholders
involved while balancing production and quality.
Water institutions
In the early seventies, the advent of the environmental movement was embraced
across America. Public support for environmental protection forced the federal
government to institute legal guidelines and federal agencies charged with the
responsibility to protect the nation’s natural resources. The ensuing laws and institutions
became elements for a more elaborate environmental framework that transcends from
the federal level to local level institutions.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal institu
tion that is charged with establishing and enforcing federal environmental laws,
regulations, guidelines and directives to protect and preserve natural resources. A
number o f federal laws including the Clean Water Act of 1972 provide the legal
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doctrine establishing national water quality laws and the upgrade requirements for
underground storage tanks (USTs). The EPA headquarters is located in Washington,
D C. EPA maintains its influence over the nation through its nine regional branches.
San Francisco, California is the headquarters for Region 9 that includes California.
In addition to the federal level environmental institutions, each state has the op
tion to establish its own environmental protection agency. In California, this is the
California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA) located in the state capital,
Sacramento. Cal EPA is charged with protecting the natural resources o f California.
Like any state with its own environmental protection agency, Cal EPA’s environmental
laws and enforcement must meet or exceed the federal level requirements set by the
EPA otherwise the EPA will assume those responsibilities. Based upon this criteria, Cal
EPA is managing its own water quality program and it has initiated a number of
regional and local im plem enting agencies (LIAs) to execute this program. In general,
California is far ahead of many other states with regard to environmental guidelines.
Typically at the forefront of environmental protection, California’s environ
mental institutions continuously push the threshold of federal environmental protection.
For example, Cal EPA air pollution regulations are stricter than the EPA air pollution
regulations. This has led to a number of lawsuits by gross emitters of air pollution
against Cal EPA to change its regulations to meet EPA’s less stringent standards thus
reducing the strict standards set by Cal EPA. Under this framework, Cal EPA will
defend its standards in court.
Another germane topic concerns methyl tertiary butyl ether (M TBE). This oxy
genated gasoline additive was legally mandated across the nation by the EPA in the
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early 1990’s to reduce the smog precursors emitted by vehicular sources. Recently, it
has been discovered that MTBE is highly soluble in water and a potential carcinogen.
Presently, the governor of California is championing this politically charged topic and
pursuing regulations to preserve and protect California’s public interest and water
resources against MTBE contamination. Notably, California is phasing out MTBE as
an additive to gasoline by 2002 and accelerating the clean-up o f M TBE contaminated
sites. Part of this program includes clear public information in the form o f warning
labels attached to each dispenser at gasoline service stations that describe MTBE as a
significant environmental risk. Additionally, national media coverage on “Sixty
Minutes”, a popular news show and the daily news brought this important topic to the
nation’s attention.
The M TBE phase out has led to legal challenges under NAFTA on the part of
business establishments such as Methanex. Methanex is a Canadian corporation that
produces methanol and is seeking $970,000,000 in damages against the United States
Department of State (Methanex Corporation, 2000). Approximately forty per cent of
Methanex methanol consumers use methanol to produce MTBE. Methanex identifies
an economic deterrent associated with the California phase out.
With a more specific focus on the water resource agencies within California, Cal
EPA has put into law the foundation o f the California State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) based in Sacramento. Legalization o f this board and its responsibili
ties are incorporated within a number o f laws including The Porter-Cologne Law. The
SWRCB’s long-term mission is incorporated in the 1995 SWRCB Strategic Plans with
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Initiatives and provides that “California strives to be a national and international leader
in innovative approaches to water resource protection” (California SWRCB 1995,
III-2 ).
The SWRCB identifies the importance of making provisions for all stakeholders
including the public. In general, public information is easily obtained from water
quality or management institutions. A federal legal precedent exists for public
information in the Freedom o f Information Act. For example, California’s agencies and
their archives o f information pertaining to open and closed environmental cases are
available to the public for review. Access to these records increases the level o f checks
and balances incorporated in environmental projects and cases of public significance.
Interested parties have the opportunity to review the information and advocate for their
own position. Additionally, some California agencies post general information
pertaining to contaminated case on the Internet. The net effect o f this dynamic
interaction is elevated vigilance resulting in improved standards and action.
Charged with the responsibility to protect the water resources of California,
SWRCB divided the state into nine regions based upon watersheds. The jurisdiction
over these nine regional watersheds is charged to nine respective Regional Water
Quality Control Boards (RWQCB). The Los Angeles metropolitan zone falls under the
jurisdiction of three Regional Boards including Regional Board Number Four also
known as the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LA RWQCB),
Regional Board Number Eight also known as the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality
Control Board (SA RWQCB) and Regional Board Number Nine also known as the San
Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (SD RWQCB). This study will focus on
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the LA RWQCB for three reasons. First, the SA RWQCB and SD RWQCB each cover
portions of Orange County portion o f the LAMZ while the LA RWQCB covers all of
the larger Los Angeles County portion of the LAM Z and the interconnected SGVB and
CPLAC. Second, the LA RWQCB has taken a leadership position on a number of the
most pressing water quality issues including MTBE. Three, the LA M Z contains several
o f the most complex and highly contaminated sites in America (Blomquist, 1992).
One innovative approach incorporated by the SWRCB is an incentive program
that provides access to funding for specific types o f environmental contamination cases.
In the case of petroleum hydrocarbon leaks from UST cases, a state fund based upon a
surcharge added to each gallon o f gasoline sold at service stations provides a multi
billion dollar fund to assist with clean-up fees. To obtain the funds, up to one million
dollar per contamination case, responsible parties (persons or businesses owning or
operating sources for contamination that pose established impacts) must comply with
federal and state regulations to upgrade USTs by 1998 as well as the regulations,
permitting and directives of the appropriate responsible agencies (local, municipal,
regional, state or federal level agencies with oversight responsibility for sources of
contamination). Eligibility is not automatic so this encourages responsible parties to
comply with regulatory guidelines. In many cases, each RWQCB must identify
responsible parties. After identifying the parties that are responsible for the
contamination source, the RWQCBs will initiate a phased approach to clean-up the site
that includes site investigation followed by remediation if necessary.
The extent of contamination and the pending reductions of imported waters
place the LAM Z in one of the most advanced soil and water resource assessment and
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remediation efforts in the country. In fact, large EPA supervised Super Fund projects
persist in the SFVB, SGVB and CPOC This contamination has been identified as a
significant threat to local water supply. In The Great Thirst, Norris Hundley describes
the potential threat to the integrity of the Basin’s water resources:
So contaminated had the aquifers underlying the Los Angeles, Riverside, and
San Bernardino areas become by the late 1980s that the Metropolitan Water
District [M W D] and an old nemesis, the Environmental Defense Fund, joined
forces to study ways to eliminate the toxins. Influencing M W D ’s decision was
the realization that the traditional escape for not seriously dealing with pollu
tion-building a massive new project-had become less likely in the wake of the
Peripheral Canal defeat. Moreover, the cost of importing water from northern
California and the Colorado River was in 1990 four to six times greater than
obtaining an equivalent volume o f groundwater. Within the next five years, the
rate for imported supply was expected to increase by 50 percent. The only al
ternative lay in cleaning up the available groundwater, acknowledged the M W D
general manager, so as to meet the “demands for more surface water”. (Hundley
1992, 379)
Good evidence and public information identifies that large-scale contamination is well
established throughout the Basin.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LA RWQCB)
Working independently but cooperatively with water management institutions,
the LA RWQCB is attempting to construct a long-term, proactive approach to increase
reliance on the local water resources by protecting the integrity of the supply.
LA RWQCB is actively coordinating assessment and remediation o f the region’s
threatened water resources.
Coordinating this grandiose assessment and remediation effort requires
LA RWQCB to involve select local implementing agencies (LIAs) such as city and
county level environmental bureaus. These LIAs must petition to establish their own
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program to assess and remediate soil resources. Acceptance is based upon an approved
assessment and remediation program with sufficient trained personnel and resources.
However, the crucial significance o f groundwater to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Zone
led to a prevailing directive. LA RWQCB oversees the assessment and remediation
projects that incorporate groundwater within its jurisdiction in most cases.
Like the SWRCB, LA RWQCB defined its mission and initiatives in the 1995
document Water Quality Control Plan Los Angeles Region. However, the LA RWQCB
directives were not always so well coordinated. In fact, it has passed through a number
o f phases that first emphasized a laissez faire approach but now is encouraging
enforcement. Early efforts to restore the integrity of the region’s water resources were
confused; guidelines were remiss. A number o f complaints from responsible parties,
agency officials, environmental professionals and the public led to a directive to
develop a clear set of guidelines to achieve assessment and remediation goals. This led
to an effort to request concerns and feedback from interested parties about the former
policies and directives. This feedback was incorporated into a document providing
clear directives. The resulting document, Interim Site Assessment and Cleanup
Guidebook ( The Guidebook) provides clear macro- and micro-scale directives and
guidelines for all interested parties associated with groundwater in Region Four
(California RWQCB, 1996). The executive summary of The Guidebook provides the
rational for the new directives:
The guidebook offers a new approach to the site cleanup process:
one that reduces time, cuts costs and establishes a defined endpoint for investi
gations and cleanup actions. Formerly, the process involved case-by-case deci
sions on a site-by-site basis, a process that took too long, cost too much, and had
an uncertain outcome. Concerns expressed by property owners, consultants,
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attorneys, lenders’ real estate brokers, insurance companies and others led the
Board to reexamine and reinvent its procedures. (California LA RWQCB 1996,
executive summary)
At the macro-level, The Guidebook defines the role, hierarchical order and re
spective responsibilities in the most common types o f contamination cases. This in turn
provides the responsible party the awareness of the assessment and remediation
process. At the micro-level, The Guidebook clarifies: (1) the form letters that are
initiated, (2) how the responsible party should comply with the specific steps in the
process, and (3) how to submit for case closure (no need for further action).
The LA RWQCB and each LIA has its owns environmental guidelines but over
time a standardized set o f directives and guidelines have been instituted. The
Guidebook offers the most well organized and complete guidelines. One o f its
strengths is the provision for dynamic modifications that might incorporate new
knowledge, training and technology. This provides the LA RWQCB a solid structure
with the flexibility for adjustments to achieve water quality objectives. Potentially, The
Guidebook could be viewed as a model for other regions with similar obligations.
Concluding Remarks
In the semi-arid southwest, the LA M Z’s political culture revolved around water:
the necessary variable to metropolitan development. The growing water demand within
the Basin combined with frequent drought conditions to pose persistent water
challenges. These challenges have been consistently managed. Starting with
Mulholland’s water policies, the LAM Z overcame myriad challenges by establishing
legal control over a vast network o f water resources that enabled the meteoric growth of
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the LAM Z Water appropriation projects allowed the megacity to surpass its natural
limits. However, rival stakeholders collectively initiated, a political and legal backlash.
In a sense, Mulholland’s water policies embedded an impression of unchal
lenged supremacy. Water projects such as the LAA, the CRA, and the SWP enabled
major metropolitan development spurts. However, the LAM Z began to experience a
number of challenges to its supremacy with the same legal tools previously utilized to
establish its vast network of water resources. Chief cases contributing to this reversal
include: ( 1) the 1963 Arizona v. California finding, (2) the 1989 Cal Trout I and (3)
the 1990 Cal Trout II. These and other cases provide clear examples o f how the LAM Z
ascended to a pinnacle o f water access in the American southwest that has been
subsequently reversed. Additionally, the LAM Z lost water access and adjusted to
federal policies eliminating expansion and new construction of water appropriation
projects. All o f these results indicate a shift in the status quo o f western water rights
that progressively jeopardizes the LA M Z’s water budget.
As the political and legal backlash against the LAM Z progresses, the quantitati
ve options available to the LA M Z will become more limited. The water budget will not
be increased through out-of-state resources and most likely will not be increased based
upon in-state external resources. Therefore, expansion of the local water budget through
external watersheds is nearly a moot point. Furthermore, the local water budget is
already under heavy production. Lastly, the local water resources are vulnerable to
contaminants.
Balancing increased water demand with water quality and management challen
ges, California appears positioned on the losing end o f the newly evolving water
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equation in the American southwest. The LAMZ is once again projecting its growth
and looking inward for solutions to its pending water challenge. This conundrum will
force the LAM Z to continue to innovate the most advanced approaches and technolo
gies to reconcile the supplies and demands associated with its water budget. The results
o f this endeavor may prove useful to other megacities.
Political Culture Comparison
This section will compare the major political and institutional elements between
the M C M Z and the LAM Z that influence decision making of water policies and
programs within each metropolitan zone. On the macro-level, the similarities and
differences between the political, regulatory and water management institutions provide
insight pertaining to solutions to water scarcity and integrity. In general, urban
demands and hydrogeology parameterize the logical solution sets available to water
policy-makers in the M CM Z and LAM Z. However, under former conditions, the
Mexican political agenda has preceded the solutions indicated by urban dynamics and
hydrogeology in the Valley. The political culture o f control has curtailed the diversity
of water management institutions and sustained the water-use focus that undermines
local and external water resources. Under the LA M Z water framework, well-defined
water rights have evolved. Furthermore, a diverse field of LA M Z water institutions and
free enterprise water producers has checked the political agenda yielding a managed
balance between urban demand and the Basin hydrogeologic attributes.
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Political Framework
In Mexico, a hierarchal political system exists that is composed of 31 states and
one federal district. The Mexican political system is based upon a democratic model
under an electoral process. At the national level, the political hierarchy consists o f an
executive branch, a legislative branch and a judicial branch. An elected president
governs the nation from the Federal District. The next most powerful position is the
mayor o f Mexico City. Throughout the majority o f the twentieth-century, both o f these
positions have been occupied by the PRI. Within the Federal District, the elected mayor
presides over local governance covering the sixteen delegaciones. At the state level, the
political system mirrors the federal system. Elected governors preside over political
affairs within each state. The governor o f the State o f Mexico has authority that applies
to the seventeen municipios within the M CM Z. Federal laws and rights are exhibited
and preserved in the Constitution. The role o f elites and special interests is significant
in Mexican politics.
For over five centuries, Mexico City has been the power center ofMexico.
Mexican politics have evolved under the influence of strong central governments
including European monarchs, Mexican dictators and the authoritarian PRI political
party. This strong tradition engenders a political ideology that is authoritarian
emphasizing control and a centralized growth model. Due to the political culture of
control that has prevailed, state and local governments have been dependent upon the
federal government.
Recently, political conditions have begun to shift Mexico’s political culture of
control and centralization. Within the last three elections, opposition parties such as the
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Particle Accion Nacional (PAN) and Partido de la Revolution Democratica (PRD) have
emerged as significant opposition to the PRI. Opposition success at the polls especially
the mayoral election of PRD leader, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas (1994) and the presidential
election of PAN leader, Vincente Fox (2000) signify a shift in the political culture.
With incremental progress, the political agenda o f the new administration may manifest
this shift toward progressive reform. Additionally, the presence of the technicos in the
political arena will have impacts on the policies and decision-making in important
offices throughout Mexico but with particular emphasis on Mexico City. The
progressive thinking technicos should be more receptive to fostering proactive policies
such as water quality and management programs that promote sustainability.
During the twentieth-century, the Mexican political system has been laden with
mechanisms to maintain control and minimize change. For example, each presidential
sexenio entails a process o f personnel changes throughout Mexico. The incoming
president appoints key personnel within his administration to positions of high office.
The placement o f appointees has maximized the PRI political agenda via a national
political system that directly influences decision- making down to the local offices.
Through this system, many offices have been occupied by appointed PRI bureaucrats
rather than trained professionals. This tends to weaken the system o f checks and
balances. By placing nearly unilateral significance on political outcomes, the PRFs
former political agenda of control has undermined local decision-making as well as
policies providing for social benefits and sustainability.
Under a veil o f democracy, the PRI party ideology is typified by control and
centralization. The PRI government has achieved these objectives by applying an
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authoritarian form of government (Cornelius, 1996). In Mexico City, one-party-
dominated politics has remained the norm for approximately sixty years. Under the
former political framework, strong central government remains intact and free
enterprise is thwarted by government policies such as subsidization and corrupt
contracting. The local governments in the delegacsones and municipios have been
highly influenced by the PRI former policies and actions. In general, the M CM Z
prevailing political theory skews the parity between political culture, urban demand and
hydrogeology leading to mismangement o f water resources.
Comparatively, in the United States of America, a hierarchal system exists that
is composed o f 50 states and one federal district. The American political system is a
republic based upon an electoral process. At the national level, the political hierarchy
consists o f an executive branch, a legislative branch and a judicial branch. An elected
president governs the nation. At the state level, an elected governor presides over state
political affairs. The state governance resembles the federal system. In the LAM Z, the
City of Los Angeles is composed o f 15 wards with 15 elected representatives and one
elected mayor, Los Angeles County is composed o f 82 towns (including Los Angeles)
and is governed by 5 elected county representatives and Orange County is composed of
30 towns and is governed by 5 elected county representatives. In the LAM Z, the city
and county governments in Los Angeles and Orange Counties remain independent but
partially rely on federal and state government for final legislative approvals and
financing.
The American national political spectrum has been multi-polar for nearly two
hundred years. Within this mature political system, a number of political parties
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participate but two remain the crux o f American politics. The Republican party is
typified by a conservative ideology and the Democratic party is typified by a liberal
ideology. These two parties reflect the competitive status quo within American politics.
Along with the provisions in the Constitution, this ideological competition supplements
the system o f checks and balances and promotes bipolar decision-making. This system
encourages joint-decision making forged in a competitive process.
The American political system provides a national level government that tends
not to interfere with local level politics. Within this framework, American cities and
counties provide strong local solutions. This political system emphasizes legal
elements. This stems from the well functioning role of the legislative branch within the
system o f checks and balances as well as the will of the individual to protect vested
interests via the court process. American politics have evolved from leadership that
emphasized individual liberties and challenged the authority o f English monarchs. At
the end o f the American Revolution, the resolution o f the new government was a
compromise balancing vying interests for strong central government and state
government while maintaining individual liberties. Forged in the revolutionary era,
individual liberties are a cornerstone o f American politics. The actions o f all politicians
are observed by the public, rival party members and the media. This vigilance amplifies
the effectiveness of the system o f checks and balances. At all levels o f government, the
competitive politics benefit institutions and individuals by enforcing the system of
checks and balances and allowing free enterprise to operate.
During the past 150 years, elites have influenced the nature o f the LA M Z politi
cal structure. The political ideology in the LAM Z is driven by development. LAM Z
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political institutions are weak undermining individual representation while the presence
o f elites, public institutions, and interest groups are strong influences on local politics.
In comparison, the Mexican political structure and offices resemble their Ameri
can counterparts. Both offer a political hierarchy including an executive branch, a
legislative branch and judicial branch as well as free elections. However, the
differences arise in the political ideology and subsequent devices that are employed to
resolve common challenges such as burgeoning water demands, public dissent,
corruption, and external pressures. Wayne Cornelius identifies the underlying
differences.
On paper the Mexican government appears to be structured much like the U.S.
government: a presidential system, three autonomous branches o f government
(executive, legislative, judicial) with check and balances, and federalism with
considerable autonomy at the local (municipal) level. In practice, however,
Mexico’s system of government was far more removed from the U.S. model.
Decision-making has been highly centralized. The president, operating with
relatively few restraints on his authority, completely dominated the legislative
and judicial branches. Both houses o f the federal legislature have been con
trolled continuously by members affiliated with the ruling PRI. (Cornelius
1996, 26)
Although the Mexican political structure provides all o f the offices and theoretical
checks and balances for democratic representation, “Few places in the democratic world
have less democracy than Mexico City” (Ward 1990, 81). The Mexican government
has been highly centralized through the exercise o f control. Under the former Mexican
political agenda, the system o f checks and balances has been remiss.
Alternatively, the American government is less centralized exhibiting legal de
vices to protect vested interests. This system provides checks and balances that are
activated to varying degrees within all levels o f government and by the individual.
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Within American politics, the legal framework provides an empowering tool via the
court process to resolve issues between vying parties. The acceptance of legal
resolutions to moderate disputes provides an equalizing element with the capacity to
check more powerful parties.
Water Institutions
In terms of public policy making, institutions provide an additional element to
the system o f checks and balances inherent in democratic political systems. Well-
operated and autonomous institutions serve to balance between the solution set of urban
demands, water resources and the political agenda. However, an imbalance has existed
in the M C M Z where the former political culture has emphasized water-use policies and
political centralization. As centralized growth has been an aid to PRI political control,
little initiative has been applied to decentralizing the domestic or industrial growth.
Similarly, long-term assessment and remediation o f the stressed hydrogeologic
attributes have not been adequately addressed. Remedying the negative impacts and
overshadowing influence of the former M C M Z political culture will require a form of
governance that is not encumbered with overriding political and governmental agendas.
Identifying the measure of political decentralization that will allow institutions to
adequately operate and overcome urban dynamic and hydrogeologic challenges will be
part o f Mexico’s future. Fredericksen points out that desirable managerial effects are
associated with some degree of political decentralization:
Before deciding on the degree of decentralization of specific resource manage
ment functions, one should examine the environmental conditions and the ade
quacy o f services in the water sector found under various central and local gov
ernment arrangements in different countries. Some of the poorest results are
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found in countries with the most extensive and longest period of decentraliza
tion-political, administrative, and financial. Some o f the best, though are found
in countries with highly centralized, almost dictatorial, control. It seems that
there is a degree of decentralization of selected management functions where
better management is found-provided there is a fully informed and vigilant pub
lic. (Frederickerson 1997, 537)
As the M C M Z provides the foundation for politics in the rest o f the nation, political
decentralization o f the M CM Z would set in motion a precedent for the rest of the
country.
In the case of the LAM Z, frequent drought conditions, burgeoning water de
mand posed by roughly 13 million people and 24,000 business establishments, and
scarce local water supplies pose challenges that require highly efficient water
management. Under these conditions, the need for water institutions to support the
political culture o f development was addressed early in Los Angeles history. In the
early part of the twentieth century, planned development required large-scale water
projects. Under a favorable status quo, the LA M Z rapidly urbanized with abundant
water supplies. However, changes to water rights in the American southwest gradually
initiated the need for innovative measures balancing the Basin hydrogeologic attributes
and urban demand to sustain metropolitan development. One of the most significant
measures is the evolution o f a diverse field of water institutions and private enterprise.
These stakeholders expand the scope of involvement and under well-defined water
rights promote a more sober and progressive approach to water supplies. From this
perspective, the LAM Z political culture operates in balance with the urban demand and
hydrogeology.
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In terms of water scarcity within the MCMZ and the LAM Z, institutions are the
cornerstone to the management o f the prevailing water challenges. In general, the
extant water institutions in the delegaciones including PROFEPA, DGPCC and CNA
have been dependent upon the former PRI political agenda while in the LAM Z water
institutions including the LA RWQCB, LIAs, MW D, LA DPW and the watermasters
have evolved to an autonomous status operating within a legally mandated cooperative
framework. In Los Angeles, this institutional forum moderates the political agenda of
development. In terms o f the M C M Z, autonomous institutions charged with
responsibility for water quality and management must be established, executed and
empowered. Fredericksen’s points pertaining to the implementation o f institutions
indicate a difficult task lies on the horizon for the M CM Z.
Institutional evolution in many countries, nevertheless, has not kept pace, often
resulting in delays with serious implications for the country’s future. Special
interests and long-established customs are powerful constraints. Political will to
change and strong leadership to carry it through are essential. But the ease and
pace by which sound comprehensive institutions can be introduced depend heav
ily on the perceived need for change and sometimes on the relative powers of
the legislative and the executive branches of government. In many countries, a
weak conviction that change is needed coupled with the desire by both bodies of
government to retain power sidetracks reform in the short term while conditions
worsen. (Fredericksen 1997, 534)
Mexico City might be able to bypass many policy-making pitfalls by considering the
mature water quality and management institutions in the LAM Z.
Water quality institutions
At present, the major water quality institutions within the delegaciones include
PROFEPA, DGPCC and CNA. PROFEPA, and DGPCC pursue site-specific
contamination cases that incorporate water quality as a secondary objective. These
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institutions address contamination cases at gas stations and manufacturing sites with
leaking underground storage tanks. In the Federal District alone, there is a total of nine
PROFEPA and DGPCC regulators to manage an estimated 10,000 underground storage
tanks: each UST is a potential contamination source. Considering that 70 per cent o f
the M C M Z water supplies are obtained from groundwater basins within the Valley, the
significance o f the Mexico City Aquifer mandates a proactive strategy that will monitor
and address water quality. Such a proactive strategy will check the potential for
degraded aquifer water quality.
Due to the oversight o f former PRI decision-makers, the emerging institutions
have operated unilaterally within their defined roles and jurisdictions. Furthermore, the
autonomy of these institutions has been low and this has been worsened by the role of
appointees within the extant institutions. The rotation o f regulatory appointees and lack
o f autonomy provides little incentive for leadership to implement unpopular but
necessary corrective action. Proactive strategies have not been in favor and this has
forced reactionary responses to crisis conditions.
Meanwhile, the water management institution, the CNA, monitors water quality
for potable water sources. Utilizing a four tiered monitoring system, the CNA provide
assessment measures to address potable water sources near site-specific cases but this
role does not fulfill the need for a comprehensive water quality institution charged with
the primary objective o f protecting the integrity o f water resources.
Finally, public involvement is removed from the process by censored or confi
dential classification of information. With this censor of information, the PRI has
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established a political mechanism that has isolated the party from the system of checks
and balances within the water quality equation.
In the LAMZ, a mature water quality program operates within a legal regulatory
framework that includes enforcement capabilities. The water quality program is based
upon a hierarchal system that provides clear laws, regulations and guidelines. Under
the 1972 federal Clean Water Act, California passed a number of state laws that meet or
exceed the federal requirements. These laws make provisions for a water quality
program and institutions to ensure the objectives o f this program are met. Despite the
provisions for enforcement, most water quality institutions in the LA M Z implement
water quality with a degree of flexibility that defers enforcement as a final measure.
Although enforcement in the LA M Z is uncommon, the likelihood is that future
regulations will incorporate more enforcement in proportion to increased water quality
challenges stemming from Arizona v. California, drought conditions and burgeoning
water demand.
Within the LAM Z, the water quality program is tailored by a dynamic mission
that recommends periodic updates and includes an international leadership role. The
LA M Z water quality institutions operate with a good degree of autonomy within a
cooperative framework. As the LA M Z hosts several o f the nation’s most complex and
widespread contamination sites, this cooperative framework is instrumental to the water
quality objectives. In particular, the SGVB, SFVB and the CPOC host several
Superfund cases stemming from contamination leaks at military bases and technopoles,
concentrations of industries supporting aerospace companies such as Aerojet.
Administration of the regulatory objectives within these Superfiind cases incorporates a
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cooperative arrangement between EPA and the LA RWQCB. Additionally, potential
funding for clean-up costs are available for eligible cases.
Considering UST cases in Los Angeles County, roughly ten LIAs manage the
soils-only phases of assessment and remediation within defined jurisdictions. I f
groundwater is contaminated, the case may be transferred to the LA RWQCB unless the
LIA is charged with its own water quality program. This cooperative framework
provides avenues for clear communications between the germane water quality
institutions.
Comparing the water quality institutions in both metropolitan zones, clear dif
ferences exist. In the M CM Z, the institutions have operated under a unilateral model
with poor autonomy. Additionally, water quality is not the primary objective of these
institutions rather site-specific cleanup is the focus. To date, water quality reform
proceeds at an incremental pace. Comparatively, institutions in the LA M Z operate
under a cooperative model with good autonomy. To date, this water quality program
achieved closure at hundreds of contaminated properties and many more are in the
preliminary phases of assessment and remediation. The success o f the LA M Z water
quality institutions points toward the effectiveness o f its plans and policies.
Water management institutions
Water management institutions are generally more advanced than water quality
counterparts. This is due to the early requirements for increased water production to
meet urbanization demand. The significance of water management is proportional to
the trend of urbanization and the hydrogeologic attributes. In general, M CM Z water
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management institutions appear to operate within a management spectrum that
emphasizes a unilateral focus on water usage. In contrast, the LAM Z water manage
ment institutions emphasize a balanced approach combining conservation and
innovative approaches. Furthermore, the spectrum appears to adhere to two pervasive
variables including: (1) the availability of water and (2) the accepted value o f water. In
general, abundant water supplies and low pricing lead to a low valuation of water while
water scarcity and true pricing leads to a high valuation of water. Water institutions
operating under the first model tend to promote policies and programs to harness the
benefits of water based upon increasing throughput: this model applies to the M CM Z.
Water institutions operating under the second model tend to promote policies and
programs to conserve and optimize water supplies: this model applies to the LAM Z.
In the M CM Z, a single institution, the CNA dominates water management. This
institution focuses on increasing water delivery. The CNA meets demand by sustaining
high withdrawals from the internal aquifers and external watersheds. The rates o f
extraction have led to severe overdraft that threatens the availability o f water in both the
internal and external reservoirs. In the past, large-scale projects funded by interna
tional investment have been implemented by the CNA to meet burgeoning demand.
Reduced groundwater pumping to offset subsidence has led toward renewed CNA focus
on expanding the network o f external watersheds. This unilateral focus on increasing
water throughput has fulfilled the PR I’s former political objectives. As part o f the
political objective o f control, water subsidization is one of the distributive benefits in its
repertoire of control policies. Water subsidization has been one o f the distributive
benefits that gamers public support and weakens the opposition that cannot deliver
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similar benefits. Yet, this strategy strains the fiscal budget making continuation of
water subsidization problematic.
While subsidization is viewed as a direct benefit by water consumers, this pric
ing scheme serves to undermine the value o f water and eliminates the economic signals
of water scarcity that are reflected in price fluctuations. Unfortunately, the long
standing practice of subsidization has evolved into an expectation that final water
consumers do not view as a benefit. This belief system undermines public support for
adjustments to the pricing system that might be necessary to support additions and
improvements to the extant water delivery infrastructure. From the political perspective,
water subsidization has become an obligation that will be difficult to correct. From the
financial perspective, water pricing in the M C M Z recovers approximately half of the
operating and implementation costs o f the delivery system. The result is that the CNA
water management is not recovering the complete costs o f the water delivery system.
Therefore, the money necessary for upgrades is often remiss. From the institutional
perspective, the results of the pricing structure narrow the available options to meet the
burgeoning water demand because the PRI has been committed to control policies.
In addition to the pricing dilemma, the CNA operates under a poor level of
autonomy that undermines its ability to encourage experienced management, field and
research personnel to propose innovative approaches. The revolving PRI appointees
that have dominated CNA executive level positions have stifled the will and initiative of
key personnel. Finally, a cooperative structure that includes interest groups is just
beginning to emerge in the form o f The CONSEJO but other water institutions such as
PROFEPA and DGPCC are not incorporated in this plan. Preservation of the local
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resources will require a cooperative management approach that balances water quality
and management. The centralized and limited field o f water institutions undermines the
long-term objectives o f sustainability and the options developed by a more diverse field
o f institutions.
Starting in the nineteenth century, LAM Z founders initiated the early phases of
water management focused on maximizing the throughput of the local water supplies.
As these resources proved insufficient, city elites began to develop plans to import
water from external watershed again maximizing throughput. The growing water
demand and the significance o f the aqueducts connecting the LA M Z to external water
resources led to the implementation o f institutions to preside over the delivery. Along
with these import programs, LA M Z founders began to include conservation measure
such as metering the delivery system. Operating under an ephemeral but favorable
status quo, the LA M Z grew with the availability o f additional water. Under the
persistent challenges inherent in the semi-arid Basin, efficient water delivery and
consumption remained prevailing operating objectives. To further increase local water
supplies, innovative approaches such as artificial recharge and the implementation of a
diverse field o f water management institutions and free enterprise were initiated by the
1950s.
In the LAM Z, the two dominant water management institutions, the LA DWP
and the M W D, manage the delivery from three o f the most significant external water
resources, the LAA, the CRA and the SWP. In addition to these water institutions, a
diverse field of institutions manages the local water resources. Within the major basins
of the LAM Z covered in this research, the local water management institutions include
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( 1 ) the adjudicated management of the SFVB by the ULARA Watermaster, the SGVB
by the Main San Gabriel Valley Watermaster, and the CPLAC by the CDWR, and
(2) the self-governing management of the OCWD prevails in the CPOC. These
management styles provide examples o f two effective approaches that optimize water
production in a semi-arid environment that poses persistent water challenges.
As groundwater is an open access resource in California that might easily be
over-drafted by pumping operators, the requirement for a management authority within
a cooperative framework o f member operators is now in place. Each groundwater basin
is managed by a watermaster, an individual, board or body, determines maximum
pumping yields. Member operators within each groundwater basin join on a voluntary
basis identifying measured production as preferable to severe overdraft. This program
retains the benefits o f free enterprise within a cooperative management approach. A
pervasive variable o f the LAM Z water management approach is the pricing structure.
In the semi-arid Basin, water is scarce and the value is reflected in the pricing. The
network of water institutions, wholesalers, retailers and water purveyors capture the full
cost associated with water consumption. In general, final consumers pay for the total
cost o f operation and implementation.
Although the focus o f these institutions is water production, a cooperative strat
egy exists with water quality institutions. As the objectives o f the water quality
institutions are important to the long-term integrity of the local water supplies, water
management institutions engage in regular communication and share information with
the applicable water quality institutions. This participation broadens the scope of
involvement and increases the proactive planning options.
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At present, the water management programs in the MCMZ and LAMZ are di
vergent. The CNA exhibits poor autonomy under the former PRI political framework
and operates under a unilateral model. This water management approach has resulted in
a pending water crisis with little provision for alternative policies or programs.
Comparatively, the LAM Z institutions exhibit good autonomy within a cooperative
model. Despite persistent water challenges, the LAM Z has consistently and efficiently
managed water production. The historic and proposed water management in the LA M Z
might provide a model for alternative water policies and programs in the M CM Z.
Concluding Remarks
At the time o f this writing, the presidential victory of PAN opposition party
leader, Vicente Fox is a signal that the Mexican political forum is in the advanced
stages of its evolution toward multi-polar politics. Yet, the deeply-rooted network of
political policies, programs and institutions established by the PRI are part o f Mexico’s
political culture. Despite the general interest in change, the stability offered by the
former PRI dominion is a benefit that many Mexicans appreciate. As Mexicans are not
prone to accept radical change, incremental reform will likely follow.
With the advanced stages o f urbanization in the M C M Z and the LAM Z, press
ing water quality and quantity challenges mandate the requirement for dedicated
institutions independent of political decision-making. The cases o f the M CM Z and the
LA M Z display that these two megacities operate under different quality and
management models. In the M CM Z, strong political influence under the former one-
party politics significantly impacts the decision-making capabilities of the water
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institutions. The results o f the prevailing water policies and programs has been a
pending water crisis that amplifies with increased water demand. In the LAM Z, weak
political institutions are guided by strong elite influence but water institutions balance
the decision making relative to water issues. The result o f the prevailing water policies
and programs is a well-managed approach that balances the demands o f the political
agenda with urbanization and long-term integrity of the hydrogeologic attributes. This
program incorporates a legally established cooperative framework that determines the
practices for coordinating water quality and quantity institutions. In general, the water
institutions in the LA M Z are more mature than counterpart institutions in the M CM Z.
This provides M C M Z water authorities a model to review and possibly to derive
solutions.
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CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Conclusions
To identify some possible solutions to Mexico City’s mismanaged water re
sources, this research reviewed urban dynamics, hydrogeology and political culture in
an attempt to clarify interactions affecting groundwater resources relevant to the
M C M Z and the LAM Z. Under each rubric, detailed background analysis relative to
each metropolitan zone was provided as a baseline for a macro-scale comparison. This
comparison provides a perspective to elucidate relevant interactions that might be
obscured by a micro-level analysis. This research appears to be the first attempt to
identify a specific model for the M C M Z governments to derive regulatory and
management solutions.
One objective of this research was to ascertain the value of the LA M Z experi
ences in water protection and management as a model for the M CM Z. Throughout the
world, examples of successful water protection and management provide insightful
solutions to common problems as proven policies and programs. The relevance of such
examples is applicable to regions and metropolitan zones struggling with water resource
challenges (Fredericksen, 1997). By basing water policy adjustments on proven
examples from other parts o f the world, nations may decrease the time required to adopt
and implement solutions to water challenges and crisis. Fredericksen points out the
relevance of deriving solutions from similar experiences to common problems:
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And neither time nor funds exist to experiment with untried approaches, a lux
ury that the developing countries in particular cannot afford. The real or per
ceived uncertainties about how to solve most problems confronted by develop
ing countries in particular is not a reason to “pilot” yet another concept without
thoroughly researching and understanding what others have tried in a like situa
tion. The similarities o f the resources and o f the people’s aspirations in different
countries have led to the evolution o f several principles proved sound. (Freder
icksen 1997, 542)
Likewise, the LAM Z may serve as a model for the M CM Z to moderate the challenges
at the root o f Mexico City’s water crisis. Based upon the available data and the
variables considered within this research, a number of common themes with
significance to water policy-making appear to exist.
With regard to urban dynamics, water availability has enabled the centralized
growth of the M CM Z and the development spurts of the LAM Z. Furthermore, both
megacities exhibit the following similarities: (1) high primacy and global standing with
respect to population, (2) large industrial presence, and (3) migratory flows. With
regard to hydrogeology, the high reliance on groundwater as a source o f potable water
reveals the importance of the local aquifers. The stratigraphy and geography do vary
between the M CM Z and the LA M Z. However, the interaction o f water and contami
nants with the subsurface is a common challenge that has led to different responses.
This research identified two different approaches to water regulation and management
that yield different results to common challenges. In general, the M C M Z policies have
been reactionary responses to water crisis conditions while the LA M Z polices have
been proactive and planned to manage water challenges.
The M C M Z has been governed under a political culture of control and centrali
zation that has thwarted initiatives and will required to reform the mismanaged water
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program. Despite Mexico City’s pending water crisis, planning the next battery of
solutions is focused on historic solutions that have resulted in a mismanaged water
program and ecological degradation. In the LAM Z, water protection and management
are under the responsibility o f specialized and empowered institutions. Politics play a
much less significant role in LA M Z water policy-making allowing the institutional
approach combined with free market mechanisms to operate. The results are highly
efficient and pragmatic water quality and management programs. These programs offer
detailed innovative and proactive solutions that might be useful to the MCM Z.
The M C M Z is endowed with the Mexico City Aquifer, a large and potentially
sustainable local water supply. As water quality threats have not yet been adequately
assessed, the mismanagement that prevails is based upon quantitative challenges.
Further analysis o f the Valley hydrogeologic attributes might provide evidence that this
category of challenge also exists. Remiss significant political and institutional change,
the realization of the potential water quality wildcard might introduce an overwhelming
obstacle.
Under the oversight o f politicians, M C M Z water managers pursue policies and
programs that undermine the value of water and that focus on water-use. This has led to
strategies such as subsidized water pricing and large-scale, expensive water import
projects that are often inefficient. Furthermore, the M C M Z water programs minimize
water quality, preferring to avoid depleted and contaminated supplies by drawing from
new groundwater supplies or expanding the external water network. Within the water-
use framework, the emerging water quality institutions receive minimal governmental
support. In the past, PRI political objectives have received priority undermining the
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agenda of the extant water institutions: the result is severe mismanagement of
potentially sustainable local water supplies.
At the time of this writing, an historical vote has occurred that completes the end
of one-party dominated politics in Mexico. Vicente Fox, leader o f the Partido Accion
Nacional (PAN), one of the chief opposition parties won the year 2000 elections. This
election result is significant because of the sixty year PRI dominion over the Mexican
legislature and seventy-year control o f the executive branch. Although the PAN
presence in the legislature has grown in the past twenty years, the Fox sexenio provides
the party a chance to influence national politics with extended autonomy. Additionally,
avenues for other political stakeholders such as interest groups are emerging.
Despite the optimism stemming from the recent election results, the path of
change is likely to remain incremental with sustained PRI involvement. Furthermore,
Mexican nationals are adverse to radical change (Cornelius, 1996). This shift will not
impact the political culture as much as it will provide avenues to introduce institutions,
private enterprise and the public. Introduction of these stakeholders and progressive
leadership will change the agenda.
Comparatively, in the LA M Z, water managers have been challenged from incep
tion to meet demand. Owing to natural impediments aggravated by anthropogenic
impacts, the LA M Z experiences chronic water challenges that mandate a dynamic,
innovative, and proactive approach to water policy making. This approach incorporates
water institutions, free market mechanisms and public involvement. The evolution of
the LA M Z water policies yields a mature and pragmatic approach that overcomes
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qualitative and quantitative challenges while fostering proactive, sustainable water
policies and programs.
The management of the scant local water supplies has led to policies and pro
grams that have maximized the value o f water in the decision making process. These
strategies include water metering, conservation, artificial recharge and pricing that
recuperate both implementation and operational costs. In addition, political and legal
shifts have altered the former favorable status quo. These changes undermine the
megacity's unfettered access to external water supplies posing new obstacles. These
conditions have forced LAM Z water managers to look inward to identify strategies to
optimize local water supplies. Part of the long-term investment in the local supplies
includes the water quality component. LA M Z domestic and industrial water consumers
continue to grow and potential sources o f contamination undermine the integrity of the
aquifers. LA M Z water regulators and managers dynamically implement innovative
technologies and policies to optimize the Basin’s water supply network and meet
demand.
The strength of the LA M Z water quality program is the implementation o f a
local institutional approach supported by funding, legislative mandates, and potential
intervention from state and federal governments. In general, the oversight role of the
politicians and elites has been diminished by the institutional approach to water quality
and management. The result is dynamic water quality and management programs
legally mandated to operate under a cooperative and coordinated approach. Rising
above numerous challenges, the LA M Z model might serve to elucidate general water
policies and programs for the M CM Z.
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Suggestions
Each variable discussed in this comparative research contains possible sugges
tions to moderate challenges and optimize groundwater supplies in the MCM Z. The
focus on groundwater is perceived as paramount because it provides roughly 70 per cent
43.5 m3 /s (1,111,619 acre-feet per year) o f the total M C M Z water supply, and it has the
capacity for sustainability and institutional control. The experiences in the LAM Z
provide a host o f solutions that might be applicable to the Mexico City Aquifer. In
particular, better hydrogeologic research and a local institutional approach are
cornerstones for a new regulatory and management approach in the MCMZ.
Urban Dynamics
The primary urban dynamic variable influencing Mexico City’s groundwater
supply is centralized urban growth. This phenomenon stems from a historic, political
objective to establish the M CM Z as the focal point for political and economic policy
making and national growth. The result of this legacy is an extreme concentration of
population and industry in a very confined spatial area. Comparing the M CM Z to the
LA M Z highlights the extreme concentration: the LA M Z is approximately four times as
large at the M C M Z yet has approximately 30 per cent less population. The combined
conditions o f extreme urbanization that diminish recharge zones and growing water
consumption enforce the need for some degree of planned urban decentralization.
Moderating the urban policies that sustain this growth is a cornerstone to establishing a
sustainable water supply for Mexico City. This will alleviate growing demand and
diminished recharge zones. Anton points out the need for urban policy adjustments:
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“Mexico’s problems can only solved if a different development approach is adopted. A
much less concentrated and centralized countrywide plan must be implemented to
encourage a better distribution o f population. Only a drastic change o f course will
allow the survival of the valley” (Anton 1993, 120). Planned urban decentralization of
the M CM Z will be a difficult political and cultural task. The LA M Z provides a model
of the opposite extreme. LA M Z growth is based upon planned development that might
be considered excessive sprawl but is actually managed. This approach could be
considered preferable to Mexico City’s extreme concentration and unmanaged fringe
growth.
Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology is an important variable to regions reliant on groundwater sup
plies. Without qualified research, poor policy-making regarding water production may
be ratified. Water-use has been the historic policy agenda for the M C M Z. This
approach has progressively undermined sustainability. By the mid-twentieth century,
the Mexico City Aquifer began to experience some o f the world’s most pronounced
overdraft resulting in severe subsidence. Unfortunately, the quantitative challenges may
just be the beginning of Mexico City’s water problems.
Based upon experiences o f the LA M Z and the available data regarding the Mex
ico City Aquifer, it is quite plausible that Mexico City’s groundwater supply is being
slowly infiltrated by myriad anthropocentric contaminants. Successful experiences in
the LAM Z provide the rationale for qualified hydrogeologic research that is accessible
to the public. A more complete scientific understanding o f the hydrogeology is
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important to improve Mexico City’s water policy-making. For example, artificial
recharge is a promising sustainable practice that may alleviate some o f the M CM Z
water crisis pressure. The experiences in the LAM Z point toward artificial recharge as
a reasonable option. However, the lack o f hydrogeologic data pertaining to the Valley
undermines the capacity to identify appropriate zones for spreading grounds or injection
wells.
Attributes of the Mexico City Aquifer such as transmissivity, storage capacity,
vulnerability to contamination and economic viability o f producing water from deeper
wells are precursors that must be adequately understood in advance of investment in
artificial recharge. Although artificial recharge should be considered within the water
management institutions, the investment should be based first upon a thorough study of
potential recharge sites that includes the movement, integrity and occurrence of
subsurface water in the geologic horizons. Without this research, a pilot project might
fail sending false negative signals for the rest of the Valley. Improved hydrogeologic
research should be a precursor to new water policies and programs in the MCM Z.
Political Culture
Under Mexico’s shifting politics, new avenues are emerging for a more diverse
field o f stakeholders. Although the environmental agenda will continue to be shaped
and directed by major environmental institutions such as SEMARNAP, CNA, INE,
PROFEPA and DGPCC opportunities are emerging for interest groups to become
stakeholders in Mexico’s environmental quality decision-making process. To activate
this opportunity, Mexican interest groups must integrate their representatives’
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experience and knowledge into the political decision-making processes that will forge
Mexico’s new water quality program. Progressively, the involvement of the public and
interest groups will shift the agenda away from the former PRI-dominated decision
making process.
Working in conjunction with Mexico City’s emerging institutions, interest
groups could propose a collective set o f priorities, goals and suggestions to be
integrated into the rounds of policy-making that are likely to occur in the future.
Through participation in policy-making forums, representatives o f interest groups will
find opportunities to inteiject their input. The collective experiences and knowledge of
professional and academic interest groups could provide a reservoir o f constructive
feedback for the emerging water quality institutions. Additionally, open access to
information and increased responsiveness to public inquiry would advance the
credibility o f Mexico City’s environmental quality program. The LA M Z open access
policy broadens the scope of involvement, loosens bureaucratic and political restraints,
increases public vigilance and shifts the attention onto responsible parties and
regulators. The M C M Z might benefit from similar approaches.
In the past, Mexico City’s decision makers have operated with impunity and
satisfied the burgeoning metropolitan demand with imported waters. The LAM Z water
budget also focused on imported waters until the 1963 United States Supreme Court
order reduced California’s legal access to one of Los Angeles’ largest, external water
resources. After the decision, Los Angeles decision makers and water purveyors were
forced to factor not only projected water demands but also increased competition for
water resources within the state and the Los Angeles Basin. This political shift
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effectively forced Los Angeles toward renewed water challenges. LAM Z regulatory
and management institutions will likely undergo dynamic modifications in proportion to
these challenges. Mexico City may continue to benefit from LA M Z institutional
responses by observation and deriving solutions that fit M CM Z conditions.
Mexico City seems headed for a similar water conflict with Toluca. Owing to
the growth o f this rival stakeholder, located in the Lerma Basin, the relevance of the
Arizona v. California case is paramount. As Toluca continues to grow, it will likely
benefit from the shifting political and legal status quo much as Arizona did in the 1960s.
Competition from Toluca may lead to an outcome that will diminish the M CM Z access
to the Lerma Basin much as the LA M Z is scheduled to modify its access to the
Colorado River Basin. The plausibility o f such an outcome merits preparation for
alternative water policies and programs.
Mexico City’s water crisis conditions are self-induced by mismanagement o f a
potentially sustainable resource and the oversight o f the former PRI-dominated political
culture. Shifting the political culture will be a difficult task within the former PRI
framework that was designed to control instability by limiting outside input and
involvement. However, outdated PRI practices such as expensive, large-scale water
import projects and water subsidization are inconsistent with objectives to meet the
challenges on the horizon. Continuation o f such practices will further aggravate the
pending water crisis. The need for alternative strategies is now apparent yet has been
ignored by former PRI politicians. These conditions elucidate the role for autonomous
water institutions, free enterprise, interest groups and the public as contributors to a
dynamic water quality and management program. The source o f Mexico City’s water
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crisis has been the weak political will to relinquish control to autonomous water
institutions.
Water Institutions
Based upon the apparent shift in Mexico’s political culture, the political envi
ronment appears ripe for change that may provide avenues to establish and empower
water institutions. Opposition parties have become common within the legislative
branch and with the election of PAN opposition leader, Vicente Fox as President
indicates that Mexican political beliefs are shifting. Furthermore, progressive
leadership may become more prevalent in important offices.
This era o f change is a fresh opportunity for the M C M Z to decentralize the
power structure and initiate a diverse field of cooperative and coordinated local water
institutions. Operating with autonomy but under a legal charter enforced and
empowered by the political sector, these institutions would assume the primary water
quality and management functions. With autonomy, these institutions offer an
extension o f the system of checks and balances. Even as autonomy counters Mexico’s
political history o f control, it provides the conditions required to increase the efficiency
of M C M Z water policies and programs.
Important water policy objectives for the new administration include: (1) the
recognition that changed conditions require a modernized and specialized approach to
water policy making, and (2) the will to relinquish control and power to autonomous
institutions.
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More failed water policies will continue unless Mexico’s new administration
decentralizes primary authority for water policy making to trusted and empowered
water institutions and opens the avenues for outside involvement in the form o f free
enterprise, interest groups and the public. The involvement o f institutions ensures that
the public trust is addressed as a long-term responsibility rather than an ephemeral
political preoccupation. This institutional approach is crucial to disengage the extreme
political oversight that led to mismanagement o f the M C M Z water supply.
Establishing this kind oflarge scale objective will require launching a diverse
field of local water institutions that has the executive power to enforce and guide the
M C M Z out o f the pending water crisis. These local water institutions will need to be
managed and operated by engineers and geologists trained in the science of hydrogeol
ogy. These regulators must be capable o f “thinking out o f the box.” Institutional
improvements in the M CM Z will require a shift toward more technical leadership that
will promote proactive long-term planning as an objective. Institutional management
that is overweighed with technical personnel will progressively focus on shorter-term
horizons while the long-term horizon will be neglected whereas institutional
management that is overweighed with policy- making personnel will tend to focus on
long-term horizons while the short-term will be neglected. The solution to the M CM Z
water crisis is a balanced matrix o f technical and policy-making personnel. Before
implementation o f any corrective steps, a comprehensive approach to water manage
ment will require a water quality program that identifies the methodology and personnel
to carry it out.
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One of the primary objectives for the water regulators and managers will be to
disengage the emerging water institutions from the outdated appointee system that
burdens the extant water institutions with personnel fulfilling six-year terms. Even
under effective appointee leadership, the appointee system limits water institutions to
reactive strategies that fulfill the requirements of the short-term horizon. The solutions
to this dilemma reside in the will o f the former and extant personnel to demand the
executive support to carry out water quality and quantity objectives including:
(1) providing the foundation for a more diversified field of institutions, (2) increasing
the involvement o f free enterprise mechanisms, (3) training students, professionals and
regulators in engineering and hydrogeology who will provide the future solutions and
(4) de-emphasizing the political presence in the water institutions by eliminating the
number o f politically appointed positions. With these ingredients, water quality and
quantity institutions will succeed at their mission.
The implementation o f a water quality program must operate with limited politi
cal influence. Even as political power has clearly changed hands, the opposition parties
operate within the former political framework that resists change. Institutional
initiatives will require a multi-tiered, progressive approach and the political support and
interest o f the new administration. Fredericksen elucidates the process:
Institutional reform is the type o f assignment where study and advisory commis
sions reporting to the most senior government leaders can prove extremely ef
fective. Constituted of members who as a group are independent of bureaucratic
and political pressures, these commissions can examine and formulate alterna
tives for government leaders to consider. Such bodies can provide the broad
perspective and independence essential to help in this task while giving credibil
ity to the process. O f course, the final changes will be selected by the nation’s
leaders through the political process. (Fredericksen 1997, 576)
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This point highlights that the system o f checks and balances remains intact as
politicians make final decisions.
Based upon the pressing need for reform, it is possible that the magnitude of
Mexico City’s water crisis may require the involvement o f a non-partisan third party
such as an epistemic community (Haas, 1991). Such a community might be composed
of an international panel of experts that collectively provides recommendations for
institutional reform. Fredericksen makes the point for such third party involvement:
Often independent boards or commissions composed o f nongovernment and
nonpolitical figures appointed from the community can be the most effective
vehicle for engaging the political leaders in the process. This provides a forum
that brings equals together over a period o f time. It avoids political posturing
and allows them to consider matters in depth. At the same time, public hearings
can be conducted to also bring the public into the discussions. (Fredericksen
1997, 535)
This community would influence political decision-makers on institutional reform while
remaining autonomous from the political agenda. In fact, it might be useful to develop
an epistemic community of local and international water experts from the academic and
professional spheres to help launch a proactive strategy specifically designed for
Mexico City’s unique needs. This community should include water experts from the
M CM Z, the LA M Z and the international community.
Two goals of such an epistemic community might be the development of a de
tailed descriptive analysis followed by a prescriptive plan for Mexico City’s water
supplies. The descriptive analysis would provide the parameters o f the problem. This
objective would require a high level of confidence and shared data regarding many
sources of information that are made public in the LAM Z but not presently available in
the M CM Z. The prescriptive analysis would provide the solutions to be enacted for the
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defined probiem(s). This objective would be a proactive set of policies and programs
geared to fit the MCMZ’s unique needs.
In theory, an epistemic community should advocate for the following agenda
items: (1) legally establishing water quality institutions, (2) incorporating a regular
battery of monitoring that targets the industrial hub and site-specific contamination
threats, (3) decentralizing the CNA into a more diverse field of water management
institutions charged with management of either internal or external water supplies,
(4) legally establishing a coordinated and cooperative framework between water quality
and quantity institutions, (5) gradually eliminating subsidized water pricing,
(6) focusing on more sustainable water solutions such as artificial recharge and
conservation that meet the M C M Z hydrogeologic attributes, and (7) increasing avenues
for public involvement to include open access to information. Considering the myriad
challenges, Mexico City water authorities may benefit from reviewing steps taken in the
Los Angeles Basin.
LAM Z management o f persistent water challenges provides a dynamic suite of
solutions that may ultimately promote the LA M Z as a mecca in water innovations.
Furthermore, open contracting for water projects provides incentives for free enterprise
mechanisms to efficiently operate. For example, two o f the LAM Z aqueducts, the LAA
and CRA were massive undertakings at the time yet were completed on schedule and
within the budget. Introduction o f a free market approach to the M C M Z water regime
might yield more efficient design, development and operation than the former
contracting.
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During the 1980s, the discovery of wide-scale contamination within the LAMZ
basins initiated the need for legally chartered water quality institutions. The degree of
contamination posed the need for a hierarchal and cooperative program to protect the
aquifers residing within the LA M Z. Under this framework, the LAMZ water quality
institutions address some o f the most contaminated and complex cases including federal
Superfund cases. Additionally, the importance of water quality objectives engendered a
proactive strategy to new contamination threats such as MTBE. The California
government and its institutions are among the first political and institutional bodies to
address this contaminant. The measure to phase out M TBE is representative o f the
proactive strategies that identify significant water quality threats and implement policies
and programs prior to federal requirements.
In general, the chief LA M Z water quality institution, the L A RWQCB operates
at a vanguard position with relevance as a water quality model for other metropolitan
zones. In particular, the LA RWQCB offers leadership in the following areas:
(1) operates at the forefront o f the state’s M TBE initiative, (2) implements the federal
Superfund cases in the SGVB and SFVB in conjunction with the EPA, (3) provides
open access to files pertaining to contaminated properties within its jurisdiction, and
(4) operates a highly effective and cooperative agency that addresses potential and
actual contamination cases. Additionally, part of meeting LA RWQCB mission is an
objective to be a national and international leader in innovative approaches to water
resource protection.
Despite Mexico’s historical preoccupation with control, the case o f the LAM Z
elucidates the success of a diverse field of institutions that interact and make provision
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for outside involvement. Qualified and empowered water institutions have been a
cornerstone to LAM Z success and their success might benefit the M C M Z as well. It
would not be unthinkable for water authorities in the M CM Z to initiate a similar effort.
Concluding Remarks
This research has focused on three major variables including urban dynamics,
hydrogeology and political culture to examine the interaction of these variables on
M C M Z groundwater policies. Examining the impacts o f the changes in the last five
decades, the pressure on the Valley’s hydrologic resources indicate that a more
proactive and interdependent approach will be required to better protect and manage the
M C M Z local and external water resources. The increasingly difficult challenge of
fulfilling water demands will cause the M C M Z to consider difficult choices regarding:
(1) urban and political decentralization in the M CM Z, (2) gradual elimination of
subsidized water pricing, (3) shifting water policies to include water quality,
(4) advancing the research o f the Valley hydrogeologic conditions as a policy making
precursor for innovative yet pragmatic solutions, (5) reducing the barriers to
information access, and (6) expanding the scope of involvement with a more diverse
field o f independent parties including water institutions, interest groups and the public.
By adopting a proactive approach within the guidelines derived from a proven
regulatory and management model, the M C M Z might overcome the pending water
crisis that is apparent in the rampant overdraft of the Mexico City Aquifer. Following
the direction derived from an appropriate model such as the LAM Z will improve the
outlook that the local water supply in the M CM Z will be managed with sustainability as
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an objective. However, the abuse inherent in Mexico’s former government has
undermined the momentum toward options that optimize production o f the aquifer and
ensure long-term integrity. The M C M Z’s former reactive, short-term policy-making
has not resolved the water crisis as much as postpone it. An epistemic community may
become necessary to introduce reform initiatives.
In summary, Mexico City has a grand opportunity to convert its pending water
crisis into a model o f recovery with a proactive action plan designed for the region’s
unique water requirements. These objectives will be best achieved by considering
successful strategies in place in Los Angeles. From these examples, solutions garnered
to fit the M C M Z’s unique set o f requirements may be derived and put into action by
local institutions comprised of Mexican regulators and environmental professionals.
Adopting such policies may improve the outlook for M C M Z water supplies. Proactive
solutions still remain viable but inaction may lead to lifeboat ethics.
As a final note, both metropolitan zones are vulnerable on the extended horizons
as nature defies total management. The implication is that over-management may
ultimately produce negative effects as well. In general, the degrees o f mismanagement
and over-management stem from anthropogenic modifications that fail to make
provisions for the natural cycles and exceed appropriate thresholds o f human
intervention. Therefore as an extended, long-term horizon objective, it appears that
seeking a balanced management approach between natural conditions and anthropo
genic requirements is the ultimate solution to optimizing water resources. With this in
mind, the M C M Z and LAM Z should make increased provisions to restore and
rehabilitate the natural cycles to some level o f their natural state to improve sustainabil-
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ity. An ecology balanced with the demands of human habitation and activities may
the ultimate anthropogenic innovation: a lesson for all megacities.
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FOOTNOTES
1. The DSP refers to a paradigm (a generally accepted way of thinking and
approaching decisions to satisfy the needs o f a civilization) that emphasizes growth and
expansion.
2. This research accepts the M C M Z definition and demarcation set forth by the
National Research Council ( 1995) in Mexico City’ s water supply. Improving the
outlook fo r sustainability. On the micro-scale, the Federal District is composed of
sixteen subsections known as delegaciones (delegations) including: Alvaro Obregon,
Azapotzalco, Benito Juarez, Coyoacan, Cuajimalpa, Cuauhtemoc, Gustavo A. Madero,
Ixtacalco, Iztapalapa, Magdalena Cardenas, Miguel Hidalgo, Milpa Alta, Tlahuac,
Tlalpan, Venustiano Carranza and Xochimilco; the rest o f the M C M Z is composed of
all or part of seventeen municipalities known as municipios from the State of Mexico
including: Atizapan de Zargosa, Chaleo, Chicoloapan, Chimalhuacan, Coacalco,
Cuautitlan, Cuautitlan Ixcalli, Ecatepec, Huixquilucan, Ixtapaluca, Naucalpan,
NezahualcayotL, Nicholas Romero, La Paz, Tecamac, Tlanepantla and Tultitlan. The
municipios are sometimes referred to as municipios comubados (comubated
municipalities or conurbations).
3. This research accepts the LA M Z definition and demarcation set forth by the
United States Bureau of the Census for the Los Angeles Urbanized Zone that is
accepted by the United Nations its own definition o f urban agglomeration. This
definition includes both Los Angeles and Orange Counties. On the micro-scale, Los
Angeles County is composed o f eighty-two cities including: Agoura Hills, Alhambra,
Arcadia, Artesia, Avalon, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bell, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Beverly
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Hills, Bradbury, Burbank, Calabasas, Commerce, Compton, Covina, Cudahy, Culver
City, Diamond Bar, Downey, Duarte, El Monte, El Segundo, Gardena, Glendale,
Glendora, Hawaiian Gardens, Hawthorne, Hidden Hills, Huntington Park, Industry,
Inglewood, Irwindale, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, La Puente, La Verne, Lacanada
Flintridge, Lakewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Malibu,
Manhattan Beach, Maywood, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Palos
Verdes Estates, Paramount, Pasadena, Pico Rivera, Pomona, Rancho Palos Verdes,
Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estate, Rosemead, San Dimas, San
Fernando, San Gabriel, San Marino, Santa Clarita, Santa Fe Springs, Santa Monica,
Sierra Madre, Signal Hill, South El Monte, South Gate, South Pasadena, Temple City,
Torrance, Vernon, Walnut, West Covina, West Hollywood, Westlake Village and
Whittier [excludes Lancaster and Palmdale that are part o f a separate urbanized area]
and Orange County is composed o f thirty cities including: Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park,
Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach,
Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest,
Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, San Clemente, San
Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster and
Yorba Linda.
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APPENDIX
In the MCMZ, the measurement system is based upon the metric system. While
in the LAMZ, the measurement system is based upon the English system. Utilizing
accepted conversion variables, standardization between the units of each system is
possible. In general, this study makes use o f two general categories o f measurements:
(1) urban dynamic variables, and (2) hydrogeologic variables. Urban dynamic
conversions are addressed in Appendix A and hydrogeologic conversions are addressed
in Appendix B.
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APPENDIX A
Urban dynamic measurements that are relative to the Urban Dynamic Compari
son section in Chapter 1 include: (1) land mass as expressed in area, and (2) per capita
water consumption as expressed in volume. Throughout the Urban Dynamics
Comparison, original figures are followed by the author’s converted figures presented
within parenthesis. Referring to table 15, it is possible to convert measurements of area
and volume between the two measurement systems.
(See table 15).
Table 15. Unit Conversions for Urban Dynamic Variables.
METRIC Multiply by ENGLISH ENGLISH Multiply by METRIC
AREA 1 km2 .386 .386 mi2 1 mi2 2.59 2.59 knr
VOLUME 1 liter .264 .264 gallon 1 gallon 3.7854 3.7854 liters
In the M CM Z, land mass is measured in square kilometers (km2 ) that is equiva
lent to 0.386 o f a square mile (mi2 ). In the LAM Z, landmass is measured in mi2 that is
equivalent to 2.59 km2. With regards to water, per capita water consumption is
measured in Mexico City with the liter that is equivalent to 0.264 of a gallon. In Los
Angeles, the per capita measurement is based upon the gallon that is equivalent to
3.7854 liters.
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APPENDIX B
Hydrogeologic measurements that are relative to the Hydrology Comparison
section in Chapter 2 include: (1) altitude as expressed in height, (2) rain fail as
expressed in height, (3) water supply as expressed in volume in the LA M Z, and
(4) water supply as expressed in flow in the M CM Z. Throughout the Hydrogeologic
Comparison, original figures are followed by the author’s converted figures presented
within parenthesis. Referring to table 16, it is possible to convert measurements of
height, volume and flow between the two measurement systems. (See table 16).
Table 16. Unit Conversion for Hydrogeologic Variables.
METRIC Multiply by ENGLISH ENGLISH Multiply by METRIC
HEIGHT 1M 3.2808 3.2808 ft 1 foot 0.3048 0.3048 M
HEIGHT 1 mm 0.03937 0.03937 inch 1 inch 25.4 25.4 mm
FLOW 1 m3 /s 22.824 22.824 mgd 1 mgd .043813 .043813 nfVs
With regards to altitude, the M CM Z utilizes the meter that is equivalent to
3.2808 feet. In the LAM Z, altitude is measured in feet that is equivalent to 0.3048 of a
meter. Rainfall in the M CM Z is measured in millimeters: one millimeter is equivalent
to 0.03937 of an inch. In the LAM Z, rainfall is measured in inches: one inch is
equivalent to 25.4 mm. Finally, in Los Angeles, water production is measured in acre-
feet, which is equivalent to 325,851 gallons (O ’Conmnor, 1998) while water flow is
measured in million gallons per day (mgd). However, acre-feet is the prevailing
American convention. The preferred measurement for water production in Mexico City
298
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is measured in cubic meters/second (m3 /s). To convert between the LAM Z volume
measurement and the M CM Z flow measurement, a formula must be employed. In this
research, the formula employs a round figure of 326,000 gallons as equivalent to each
acre-foot. To convert from acre-feet, one acre-foot per year is multiplied by 326,000
gallons per acre-foot. This yields 326,000 gallons per year that is equivalent to .326
million gallons per year. Multiplied by one year per 365 days equals 0.00089
[8.9 X 10'4 ] million gallons per day (mgd). This is multiplied by the accepted
conversion variable 0.043813. The final result is approximately 0.000039 [3.9 X IQ'5 ]
m3 /s. To convert from m3 /s, one m3 /s is multiplied by the accepted conversion variable
22.824 to yield 22.824 mgd. This is multiplied by one acre-foot per 326,000 gallons.
The result, 70 acre-feet per day is multiplied by 365 days per year. The final result is
approximately 25,550 acre-feet per year.
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Creator Grafton, William Durand, III (author)

Core Title Comparative research of groundwater issues in Mexico City and Los Angeles: Some possible solutions

School Graduate School

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Environmental Studies

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag engineering, civil,Hydrology,OAI-PMH Harvest,political science, international law and relations,sociology, demography

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Advisor Kamieniecki, Sheldon (committee chair), Douglas, Robert (committee member), Heer, David (committee member)

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