Several states of Mexico near “Day Zero”

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The World Resources Institute (WRI) is responsible for studying “water stress”

There are several states in Mexico that could arrive very soon to the so-called “Day Zero”.

Image result for day zero water

Day Zero” is known at the time when a city runs out of water to meet the needs of all its inhabitants.

In 2018, Cape Town (South Africa), for example, went through an extreme water crisis and narrowly avoided its own “Day Zero”

The World Resources Institute (WRI, for its acronym in English) is responsible for studying the “water stress” in the world, which is when a given population consumes the total water available in a year.

According to figures from the Aqueduct program, from the WRI, Baja California Sur is the entity with the highest degree of ‘water stress’, with a score of 5 (the maximum possible).

Other states that are in the same range are Guanajuato (4.94), Mexico City (4.90), Aguascalientes (4.81), State of Mexico (4.76), Querétaro (4.71), Hidalgo (4.63), Chihuahua (4.63), Zacatecas (4.63) and Sonora (4.60).

How to reduce “water stress”?

It ranges from the use of common sense by the population to the application of high technology by the authorities.

These are, according to the WRI, the simplest measures:

Increase agricultural efficiency. Farmers can use seeds that require less water and improve their irrigation techniques by using precision irrigation instead of flooding their fields.

Invest in gray and green infrastructure. Research by the WRI and the World Bank shows that built infrastructure (such as pipelines and treatment plants) and green infrastructure (such as wetlands and healthy river basins) can work together to address water supply and quality problems.

Treat, reuse and recycle. You have to stop thinking about wastewater as waste. Treating and reusing them creates a new source of water. The World Resources Institute stresses that “there are undeniably worrying trends” in terms of global water supply. Only the taking of urgent measures and the investment in better management of the vital liquid will be able to solve these problems.

What regions of the world are in a worrying situation?

The most affected regions, according to the institute, are North Africa and the Middle East. That classification is headed by Qatar, followed by Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, Libya, and Kuwait.

Worst in India

However, the main focus of the affected population is in India, where the sixth city by the number of inhabitants (Chennai) suffered an extreme drought only a few weeks ago that left the city without this resource. 

India, with 1.3 billion inhabitants, is ranked 13 in the classification of water stress and is also in the extremely high-risk category.

Source: El País, El Financiero, Sputnik

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