Water, Food and Welfare: Water Footprint as a Complementary Approach to Water Management in Mexico

254 Pages·2016·6.71 MB·English

by  Rosario Pérez-Espejo, Roberto M. Constantino-Toto, Hilda R. Dávila-Ibáñez (eds.)

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN ENVIRONMENT,
SECURITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE 23
Rosario H. Pérez-Espejo
Roberto M. Constantino-Toto
Hilda R. Dávila-Ibáñez Editors
Water, Food and
Welfare
Water Footprint
as a Complementary
Approach to Water
Management
in Mexico
123
SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security,
Development and Peace
Volume 23
Series editor
Hans Günter Brauch, Mosbach, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10357
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_ESDP.htm
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_ESDP_23.htm
é
Rosario H. P rez-Espejo
Roberto M. Constantino-Toto
á áñ
Hilda R. D vila-Ib ez
Editors
Water, Food and Welfare
Water Footprint as a Complementary
Approach to Water Management in Mexico
123
Editors
RosarioH.Pérez-Espejo HildaR. Dávila-Ibáñez
Institute of Economics Research Unidad Xochimilco
Mexico, DistritoFederal Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
Mexico Mexico, DistritoFederal
Mexico
RobertoM. Constantino-Toto
Unidad Xochimilco
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
Mexico, DistritoFederal
Mexico
ISSN 2193-3162 ISSN 2193-3170 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inEnvironment, Security, Development andPeace
ISBN978-3-319-28822-2 ISBN978-3-319-28824-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28824-6
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015960767
©TheAuthor(s)2016
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of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
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Acknowledgements
This book is the result of an invitation in 2012 from the Water Observatory of the
Botin Foundation,aprivate organizationinSpain, totheScientificWaterNetwork
oftheNationalCouncilforScienceandTechnology,apublicinstitutioninMexico,
to participate in a research project regarding water and food security in Latin
America. We would like to thank these institutions for making it possible for
19researchersof11Mexicanhighereducationandresearchinstitutionstoworkin
an original project concerning water issues.
M. Ramón Llamas from Botín Foundation, as well as Alberto Garrido and
Bárbara Willarts, his collaborators, from the Politechnical University of Madrid
deserve special mention. Special acknowledgments likewise to Tomás Viveros,
DirectoratthattimeoftheScientificNetworksoftheNationalCouncilforScience
and Technology; Patricia E. Alfaro Moctezuma, Chancellor of Metropolitan
Autonomous University, Xochimilco Campus (UAM-X); and Verónica O.
VillarespeReyes,DirectoroftheInstituteforEconomicsResearch,attheNational
Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Also, we want to thank Úrsula
Oswald Coordinator of the Scientific Water Network of the National Council for
Science and Technology.
We would like to especially acknowledge Hans Gunter Brauch, from the Free
University of Berlin and head editor of Hexagon Book Series; Johanna Schwartz,
headeditorofSpringer-Verlag;andDivyaSelvaraj,ProjectCoordinator(books)at
Springer,fortheirsupportandcollaboration,whichwereessentialtothepublishing
of this book.
ThispublicationwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthesupportoftheEditing
Department at IIEc, especially Graciela Reynoso Rivas from the Publishing
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities Division at UAM-X, particularly
Miguel Ángel Hinojosa Carranza; Isaac Alí Siles Barcena for his professional
translation;andCitlalinMartínezCórdova for providinguswith technicalsupport.
v
vi Acknowledgements
Not only do we thank the researchers who contributed with their expertise
throughoutthedifferentchaptersinthebook,butwealsoapologizetoeveryonefor
the long time it took for your documents to be published, first as an e-book in
Spanish, and secondly, as an English publication by Springer.
Mexico City, UAM and UNAM Rosario H. Pérez-Espejo
June 2015 Roberto M. Constantino-Toto
Hilda R. Dávila-Ibáñez
Contents
Part I Linking Water Management, Food Policy and Welfare
1 Contemporary Model for Water Management
and Alternative Approaches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 An Institutional Perspective on Water Availability
and Its Scarcity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Water Management in Mexico and the Predominant
Contemporary Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 The Potential of Water Footprint and Virtual Water
Approaches for Institutional Strengthening on the Subject
of Water in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Socioeconomic Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Geographic and Demographic Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Economic Distribution of the Population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3 Water Policy and Institutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1 Water Legal Framework and Institutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Water Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4 Water Use for Food Purposes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1 Agriculture, Agroindustry, and Water Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
vii
viii Contents
5 Water Resources Inventory and Implications of Irrigation
Modernization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.1 Water Resources Inventory and Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.2 Irrigation Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6 Manifestations of Welfare Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.1 Introductory Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.2 Evolution of the Water Security Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.3 Widening Water Security Toward Environmental, Social,
and Economic Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6.4 Deepening Water Security in the Context of Human
and Gender Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.5 Water Security as a Political and Military Security Issue. . . . . . 49
6.6 Conflicts and Hydro-Diplomacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6.7 Water Security and Gender Equity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.8 Concluding Notes: Toward a Comprehensive Understanding
of Water Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7 Prices and Water: A Strategy with Limited Effectiveness. . . . . . . . 59
7.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.1.1 Contemporary Water Markets in Mexico:
Their Institutional Origin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.2 Contemporary Water Markets in Mexico and Some
of Their Main Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Part II Pressures on Water Availability, Its Use
and Welfare Effects
8 Water Use Pattern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
8.1 Water Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
8.2 Degree of Stress on Agricultural Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
8.3 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
9 Change in the Dietary Pattern and Water Security . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
9.1 Food Sovereignty, Water Security, and Changes
in the Dietary Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
9.1.1 The Debate on Food Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
9.1.2 Food Sovereignty and Water Security. . . . . . . . . . . . 87
9.1.3 Changes in Dietary Patterns, Food Sovereignty,
and Water Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Contents ix
9.2 Virtual Water, Food Sovereignty, and Change in the Dietary
Pattern in Mexico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
9.2.1 Characteristics of Food Consumption Changes
in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
9.2.2 Virtual Water of the Mexican Dietary Pattern. . . . . . . 91
9.3 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
10 Hydrological Stress and Pressures on Water Availability. . . . . . . . 99
10.1 How Much Water Does Mexico Have and Where Is It? . . . . . . 99
10.2 How Is Water Used in Mexico and Where?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
10.3 How Is Water Stressed in Mexico?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
10.4 What Conflicts Emerge from the Water Stress Level?. . . . . . . . 104
10.4.1 Water in the Colorado River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
10.4.2 Water in Mexico City and Its Metropolitan Area . . . . 106
10.5 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
11 Problems Associated with Groundwater Management . . . . . . . . . . 111
11.1 Groundwater Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
11.2 Groundwater Concession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
11.3 Degree of Groundwater Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
12 Vulnerability and Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
12.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
12.2 Considerations About Vulnerability and Climate Change. . . . . . 122
12.3 Vulnerability and Water Footprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
12.4 An Approach to Latent Vulnerability with Water
Footprint Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
12.4.1 Internal Water Footprint (IWFP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
12.4.2 External Water Footprint (EWFP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
12.4.3 Latent Vulnerability (LV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
12.4.4 Internal Latent Vulnerability (ILV). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
12.4.5 External Latent Vulnerability (ELV). . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Part III Methodology for Analyzing Water Footprint
and Virtual Water
13 Water Demand of Major Crops: A Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
13.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
13.2 Agro-ecological Zones and Water Availability. . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
13.3 Methodology to Meet Crop Water Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.4 Moisture Balance in the Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
13.4.1 Soil Moisture Content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138