Cutzamala water levels are up from 2024, but ‘Day Zero’ fears linger in Mexico City

A twelvemonth aft terrible drought and deficiency of rainfall took the Mexico City metropolitan country to the brink of a h2o crisis, conditions look overmuch improved successful 2025.

The National Water Commission (Conagua) reported that arsenic of April 1, the Cutzamala reservoir strategy — which provides astir a 3rd of the capital’s h2o and supplies respective suburban areas wrong neighboring México authorities — was astatine 56% capacity.

A twelvemonth agone connected April 1, 2024, supplies were astatine 34.7% capacity, much than 20% little than existent h2o levels.

Although this is simply a alleviation to the millions of radical that trust connected the Cutzamala for its water, Conagua information shows that the existent concern is considerably beneath average. In 2020, supplies were astatine 73.3% capableness and, successful 2019, the Cutzamala was 82% full.

Mexico City’s yearly rainy season, which typically runs from May done to September, tin beryllium fickle. It was astir 2 months precocious successful arriving past year, prompting existent concerns that Mexico City could look a Day Zero.

While the 56.4% fig astatine the opening of April is somewhat reassuring, Conagua reported that 5.98 cardinal cubic meters of h2o was drawn retired of the reservoirs during the past week of March. At the aforesaid time, nary precipitation had been recorded crossed the grade of the system, which stretches northwest crossed México authorities and into the authorities of Michoacán.

A h2o motortruck makes deliveries successful Mexico City’s Iztapalapa borough during the 2024 h2o shortage. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)

Increasing temperatures related to successive vigor waves had seen h2o request emergence successful March from 8.64 cubic meters-per-second to 10.95 cubic meters per second.

On March 25, the Water Basin Organization of the Valley of Mexico (OCAVM) said the Cutzamala strategy was astatine 57.2% of capacity, down from 64% successful December and astir 67% successful November.

As such, Conagua warns that the panorama remains delicate, particularly if the menace of drought rises again. For now, however, Mexico’s Drought Monitor reported that nary of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs was experiencing drought.

In aboriginal 2024, overmuch of Mexico was suffering terrible drought conditions and utmost heat, and Mexico City was nary exception. The superior experienced an all-time precocious somesthesia of 34.3 C connected May 9, 2024, past acceptable a caller grounds of 34.7 C connected May 25 of the aforesaid year.

Additionally, the four-decade-old Cutzamala strategy is aging severely and earthquakes person caused harm to the pipes. Studies amusement that much than 40% of the system’s h2o is mislaid done leaks.

In the mediate of past year’s crisis, authorities turned disconnected the spigots for respective hours to repair a leak successful a power valve.

Though overmuch of northwest Mexico remains successful a authorities of drought, Mexico City has been spared truthful acold this year. (Conagua)

City officials proceed to enactment connected responses to the looming h2o crisis.

On Dec. 30, Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada announced plans to halve the capital’s connected the Cutzamala reservoir strategy for the adjacent 2 years.

As portion of the plan, Brugada inaugurated a h2o purification works that volition supply jugs of purified h2o astatine reduced terms to low-income families who reside successful areas — specified arsenic the boroughs of Iztapalapa and Xochimilco — that endure chronic h2o shortages.

With reports from Excelsior, El Economista, Posta and La Jornada