The breaker and water in Mexico City

In the face of the imminent water crisis in Mexico City, viable alternatives emerge.  In the immense district of Iztapalapa — where nearly two million people live, many of whom do not have running water — an oasis of hope is being built: the water park La Quebrada.

 

Alfonso Reyes in Anahuac's vision said that the desiccation of the Valley of Mexico covered from the year 1449 until the year of 1900. "Three races have worked on it and nearly three civilizaciones…es the desiccation of the Lakes as a little drama with their heroes and their scenic background."

So great was the work of building a desert in the lagoon where we could build the city, as enormous and expensive the way to bring water for the consumption of its inhabitants. And so has survived this city, between sinkings and floods, suffering from abundance, scarcity, and admitting the imminent crisis as the next step of its relationship with water.

Climate change is linked to this complex panorama. High temperatures and drought imply greater evaporation and, consequently, greater demand for water, which increases the pressure to get the resource from distant reserve areas — at exorbitant costs — or to drain even more aquifers and Accelerate the collapse of the city.

But not everything is lost. In the immense district of Iztapalapa — where nearly two million people live, many of whom do not have running water — an oasis of hope is being built: the water park La Quebrada.

The project − located in a site that was abandoned at the crossroads of Ermita and Avenida de las Minas − is coordinated by the Institute of Social Research (IIS) of the UNAM, by Manuel Perlo. It is a public space, recreational, convivial and landscape, which at the same time will help solve water problems in the area.

The gully was specifically designed to receive rainwater from the Sierra de Santa Catarina area, which normally flows into the Avenida Ermita Iztapalapa and surrounding areas and causes constant flooding. The catching water is improved through filters and settlers, which lead the vital liquid to two large reservoirs and then to the subsoil.

In addition to rainwater, wastewater from drainage will be treated for processing through a combined system of biological anaerobic plant and wetlands. The resulting flow will be sufficient to supply the needs of the park itself and will also obtain four extra water pipes per day, which will be supplied to the surrounding colonies.  The electric part, pumps and lighting, will work through a solar panel system

Numerically speaking, the park will bring a direct benefit for 28000 people, as the public space to which they have access is doubled, from 1.13 to 2.97 square meters per inhabitant; In the same way, it will triple the current woodland with endemic vegetation. With an investment of 250 million pesos and the creation of a trust, it was announced that the project will be ready by mid-2018.

More than a park, perhaps the beginning of a new chapter − sustainable and reconciling − in the history of water in Mexico City.