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Figure 6 Mexico City Module
1

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Members of assessment team

The assessment was led by UNEP, Centro de Investigaciones en Geograf?a y Geom?tica “Ing. Jorge L.Tamayo”
(CentroGeo), which is part of the Public Research Center System of the National Science and Technology

Council (CONACYT), with the support of the local and the national governments of Mexico.

Major environmental issues assessed

Urbanization in Mexico City has taken place in an accelerated and unorganized fashion with serious
effects on the environment. The urban area, which occupied close to 12 000 hectares in 1940, grew
to 148 000 hectares by 2000. The expansion has taken place at the expense of the land reserved for

conservation.

All the bodies of water in the basin have suffered serious damage, and the performance of the

hydrological system is at serious risk. Almost all the rivers have been diverted into pipelines, and the
springs have stopped flowing naturally. Aquifers have been exploited beyond their capacity, and water
must be brought in from other basins. The overexploitation of Mexico City’s aquifer, which supplies 70
per cent of the water consumed, causes sinking of land in various places, as well as cracks and fractures

IEA Training Manual Workshop for the National Reporting Toolkit (NRT) 37