Will Lack of Water Lead to More Violence in Mexico????

The Mexico City Human Rights Committee (CDHDF) is warning that the water shortage in the Valley of Mexico could lead to increasing violence, with residents fighting over the scarce resource.

Emilio Alvarez Icaza, president of the committee, urged local authorities and residents to come to terms with the scarcity of water, and realize that it poses a real risk to the functioning of the Mexico City metropolitan area.

Alvarez said that the unchecked, clandestine urbanization of recent years has expanded the metropolitan area into zones that are supposed to be conservation areas, which provide 70 percent of the city's water. The use of conservation zones for city expansion has reduced available water levels, because it causes the loss of ecological balance.

With urbanization into conservation areas, climate change, and this year's low rainfall, the Human Rights Committee stressed that the city's water problems are real and residents need to make changes in the way they relate to water and use it.

"We have a serious problem in terms of water culture," said Alvarez. "It's not an exaggeration to say that the viability and functioning of the city depends on the availability of water."

He said that the new relationship with water should start in homes and with government initiatives.