Journal of South American Earth Sciences 12 (1999) 607±613

The Basin of Mexico and its metropolitan area: water abstraction

and related environmental problems
T. GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn*, R. RodrõÂ guez, S.A. Cortes
Departamento de Recursos Naturales, Instituto de GeofõÂsica, Universidad Nacional de MeÂxico, Del. Coyoacan, 04510, D.F., Mexico

Abstract

The Basin of Mexico is a closed basin of lacustrine character, with an average elevation of 2200 m above sea level. The
watershed covers a vast extension in ®ve states. Mexico City and its metropolitan area are located within this basin. The aquifer
system is the main source of water supply for more than 20 million people. Water consumption is about 60 m3/s. The aquifer
supplies about 43 m3/s from around 1000 wells at 70±200 m depth. Pumping policies have generated subsidence and degradation
of the ground water quality in the Basin of Mexico The lacustrian clay layers play an important role in the local hydrogeology,
protecting the aquifer from pollution, but the transition and piedmont areas are highly vulnerable to surface pollutants. # 1999
Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Basin of Mexico; Aquifer system; Vulnerability; Subsidence

1. Introduction proximately 9560 km2. It is a topographic sink of vol-

By the year 2000, about 30 million people will live
in the Valley of Mexico, which occupies 0.03% of the
total surface of the country. The potential sources of
water supply lie outside the valley. A pipeline from the
Lerma Basin, NW of Mexico City, was laid in 1941,
using 15 km of aqueduct over the Cruces Range. The
Cutzamala aqueduct was established later, over a dis-
tance of 127 km. This system requires pumping water
to an elevation of 1200 m. At present, about 70% of
the water supply in the Valley of Mexico (45 m3/s) is
abstracted from a deep aquifer in pyroclastic±alluvial
units underlying the lacustrine sediments.
The Basin of Mexico is located in the central part of
the Mexican Volcanic Belt, covering an area of ap-
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tglez@tonatiuh.igeofcu.unam.mx (T. GonzaÂlez-
MoraÂn).
canic origin. The watershed borders on the headwaters
of the Balsas River; on the basins of Toluca and Tula,
and on the volcanic ranges of Mt. Ixtaccihuatl and
Popocatepetl (Fig. 1). The Basin contains a set of
interconnected lakes of fresh to brackish water.
Sediment deposition in this lake system occurred
mainly during the Quaternary period. Before intensive
water abstraction, many springs were found along the
foothills.
During the 18th century, the lake was drained to the
north of the Basin by the Nochistongo canal
(Bibriesca, 1960). The surface drainage works con-
cluded around 1900. A Deep Drainage System, orig-
inally built for storm sewerage, was ®nished in 1975. It
is located at a depth of 200 m and has a capacity of
200 m3/s. Drainage of the basin has contributed to
severe ecological degradation including elimination of
wildlife, deforestation, erosion, and air and water pol-
lution.

0895-9811/99/$ - see front matter # 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 9 5 - 9 8 1 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 3 - 7
608 T. GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 12 (1999) 607±613

Fig. 1. Schematic map of the Basin of Mexico and the Mexican Volcanic Belt. The location of the Texcoco lake, state limits and major volcanic
ranges have been added.

2. The geological framework
The Basin was formed by sedimentation, tectonism,
and volcanism. The main geological events can be
summarized as follows: (i) deposition of Cretaceous
limestones rocks in a shallow marine environment; (ii)
deposition of volcanics and alluvial sediments; (iii)
Tertiary to Recent volcanic activity producing import-
ant deposits of lava ¯ows and pyroclastics; and (iv)
development of the lake system due to closure of the
basin.
Before the 1985 earthquakes, the geology of the cen-
tral Mexican Volcanic Belt was known from surface
geology and shallow wells (Arellano, 1953; Fries, 1960;
Schaepfer, 1968; Mooser, 1975, 1978; VaÂzquez-SaÂnchez
and Jaimes-Palomera, 1989). A well near Texcoco tra-
verses 200 m of Quaternary lake deposits. Further in-
formation was supplied by deep wells and seismic
re¯ection pro®les from PEMEX (Perez-Cruz, 1988)
and by the Federal Commission of Electricity
(Benhumea Leon and Vazquez, 1988). Studies of sur-
face geology (Mooser, 1990; Mooser and Molina,
1993), and geophysical studies (RodrõÂ guez and
GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn, 1989; GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn, 1992) pro-
vide regional data on the stratigraphy of the Basin of
Mexico.
 T. GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 12 (1999) 607±613
2.1. Evolution of the lake system
Niederberger (1987) described the lakes in the Basin
before 1900 as three sub-basins at slightly di€erent
levels: (a) The North Basin (Zumpango-Xaltocan), (b)
The Central Basin (Mexico-Texcoco), and (c) The
Southern Basin (Chalco-Xochimilco).
The central lake (Texcoco) was more brackish than
the Chalco-Xochimilco and Zumpango-Xaltocan lakes.
The central basin acted as a reservoir that drained the
other two.
Orozco y Berra (1864) measured the relative el-
evation of the secondary basins with respect to the
lake of Texcoco. The north basin was at 6.06 m and
the southern one was at 3.14 m with reference to
Texcoco lake. At that time, the initial lake had shrunk
to 500 km2. Today it does not exceed 50 km2. ``Plan
Texcoco'' is a current project designed to rescue the
Texcoco lake, using treated sewage.
2.2. The aquifer system
The aquifer system consists of an upper aquitard
and a con®ned aquifer formed by two units, one gran-
ular and one of fractured volcanic rocks. At the mar-
gins of the basin, there is a transition zone with an
upper permeable layer.
The aquitard includes a thick unit of ®ne-grained
lake sediments, and volcanic sand layers with good
permeability. During the early 1940s, these layers were
exploited by shallow wells. Towards Texcoco lake,
they carry highly mineralized water above 45,000 mg/l.
GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn (1992), RodrõÂ guez and Lara (1988),
Benhumea Leon and Vazquez (1988), Bellia et al.
(1992), reported more than 400 m of these deposits in
the Chalco sub-basin. The thickness decreases towards
the margins of the basin.
The aquitard overlies the pyroclastic±alluvial sedi-
ments which form the con®ned aquifer. This is the
main water supply system for Mexico City and its
metropolitan area. Drinking water is currently drawn
from wells deeper than 400 m, where better quality
water from the main aquifer is obtained. In the
southern margins, basaltic lavas and pyroclastic pro-
ducts are inter®ngered with alluvial and lacustrine ma-
terials.
The deeper aquifer unit includes fractured Tertiary
volcanic rocks. The two units are hydraulically con-
nected. The underlying Cretaceous limestones may also
present a relatively good permeability (Fig. 2).
The hydrological balance for the Basin of Mexico is
not easy to establish because some of the required par-
ameters are unknown (evapotranspiration, in®ltration
rate, regional ¯ow apportions). In accordance with
ocial data, the total recharge in the Basin is 23 m3/s
(CNA, 1991). This value assumes an estimated annual
609
rainfall average of 213 m3/s. If the abstraction is 45 m3/
s, then the regional aquifer is being overexploited.
Other authors calculated a lower recharge regimen
(16 m3/s), considering only the central and southern
area of the Basin (DGCOH-IGF UNAM, 1994).
Although the estimates of the total recharge could
change the exploitation regime, important variations
are not observed in the piezometrical levels. This fact
can be explained in terms of unknown contributions of
water from pipeline leakages (20±40% of the water
supply) and water coming from the depressurization of
the aquitard, 4 m3/s (Durazo and Farvolden, 1989;
Durazo, 1996).
2.3. Aquifer vulnerability
The aquifer system of the Basin is polluted by sur-
face sources. Many factors in¯uence the leaching of
contaminants into ground water (National Research
Council, 1993). In the urban area, aquifer vulnerability
di€ers among the three major hydrologic zones: the
lacustrine valley ¯oor, the transition zone in the pied-
mont region, and the hilly zone (Mazari and Mackay,
1993).
Lake zone: This area has elevations ranging from
2230 to 2250 m above sea level with an area of
1431 km2 and includes 23% of the ¯oor basin. The
surface is impermeable.
Transition zone: This is located between the lake
zone and the foothills. It is an area of relatively
high permeability, and is of concern due to urban
growth and the increase in the number of water
supply wells.
Hilly zone: This is the main recharge area. The
human population increases the potential for pol-
lution.
The transition zone is the most vulnerable area, due to
urban growth and the presence of garbage dumps and
open sewers leaking into the aquifers. Some new indus-
trial developments are also located in the transition
zone.
3. Ground water pollution
Chemical and isotopic studies distinguish two types
of water: aquifer and interstitial water in the aquitard
(Durazo, 1988; CorteÂs et al., 1997).
In the aquitard, the mineralization is higher than in
the deep aquifer (RodrõÂ guez, 1987). The clay contains
mineralization of up to 1100 mg/l, whereas the deep
aquifer contains 200±300 mg/l (RodrõÂ guez and
GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn, 1989). Some intrusion of brackish
water into the main aquifer has been documented.
Chlorine concentrations have been attributed to the
610 T. GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 12 (1999) 607±613
Fig. 2. Simpli®ed geological section for pro®le B±B'.
redistribution of water bodies with di€erent degrees of
mineralization (Durazo, 1988).
Towards the center of the lake area, the chlorine
concentration exceeds the drinking water standard
(Cl > 250 mg/l) (Durazo, 1988). In the Texcoco area,
salt concentrations higher than 25,000 mg/l have been
found. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate ions follow a
complex pattern (Lesser-Illades et al., 1990). Sulfur
compounds (sulfates), iron, and manganese are attribu-
ted to the local geology and their concentration
exceeds the water quality standard in a few areas
(Bellia et al., 1992). Some wells have been closed
down, and treatment is provided at the well head in
some locations, but the amount of water treated in
this way is very small.
4. Land subsidence
The water supply of Mexico City was obtained from
springs until the mid-1800s. Orozco y Berra (1864)
mentions artesian aquifers in the downtown area of
Mexico City. Spring water reached the city through
aqueducts and public fountains. The early wells were
shallow, dug wells called ``norias''. More than 200
artesian wells were drilled in the 19th century.
During the period 1850±1920, the increasing use of
groundwater and new drainage works caused the dry-
ing-up of springs, the shrinking of the main lakes and
a loss of pressure with consolidation of lake sediments.
Exploitation of wells in the aquitard (``hard layers'')
eventually stopped, but water abstraction through
deep wells induced ¯ows from the upper aquitard by
depressurization of the ®ne-grained materials, causing
subsidence.
Land subsidence has been reported since the early
1900s, reaching an average rate of 5 cm per year due
to high pumping rates (Mazari and Mackay, 1993;
GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn and RodrõÂ guez, 1995). Tall buildings
were a€ected and municipal infrastructure damaged.
Nabor Carrillo proposed the installation of piezo-
meters to monitor the subsidence (Carrillo, 1948).
 T. GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 12 (1999) 607±613
Some shallow wells located in the vicinity of down-
town areas were closed down, and new deep wells were
drilled in Chalco, Xochimilco, and Tlahuac, where
pumping rates of more than 10 m3/s have also resulted
in subsidence. If the heavy pumping in the Basin of
Chalco continues, the total subsidence in the center of
this Basin will be about 0.4 m/year (Ortega et al.,
1993). As pumping and subsidence continue, the sur-
face of the lake will expand. In the Chalco-Xochimilco
area, surface fractures, 1 m wide and 200 m long
occur. The reduction of water withdrawal in the urban
area has generated some groundwater rise in the shal-
low formations (Lesser-Illades et al., 1990), which may
a€ect the city's infrastructure.
In 1940, abstraction was 4 m3/s, and by 1990, it
reached 35 m3/s. Although an ocial ®gure on the
number of operating wells is not available, an esti-
mated 12,000 wells draw from the regional aquifer
(AIC-ANIAC,1995). There was no systematic data on
groundwater levels until 1980 and it is impossible to
estimate the regional draw-down before that year. In
the period from 1980±1990, the mean water table
depth dropped from 0.1 to 0.5 m per year. Three hun-
dred and twenty wells are currently used as observa-
tional points (piezometry and chemical analysis; AIC-
ANIAC, 1995) and 1400 topographical surveys are
performed every 2 years to observe changes in subsi-
dence. Subway lines are aligned every 6 months.
According to the local water authorities (Gerencia
de Aguas del Valle de MeÂxico), the net subsidence
over the last 100 years has lowered the central part of
the urban area more than 7.5 m. Some areas presented
an accumulated subsidence of more than 15 m, due to
the greater abstraction and/or greater thickness of the
clay layers. At present, the mean subsidence rate in the
urban area is 0.3 cm/year, and a rate of 2.2 cm/year is
reported north of the metropolitan area (GonzaÂlez-
MoraÂn and RodrõÂ guez, 1995). Extensive damage to the
city's infrastructure, including building foundations
and the sewer system is still common, and fractures in
the lacustrine clay layers which increase the aquifer's
vulnerability to pollutants, are common as well (Bellia
et al., 1992).
5. Conclusions
Lacustrine formations play an important role in the
leakage process of the super®cial pollutants. The very
low permeability and extensive thickness of these for-
mations (up to 50 m in the urban area) restrict move-
ment of the land-surface towards the deep aquifer.
Thus, excellent water quality is observed in wells from
the central part of the Santa Catarina well ®eld
(Chalco Basin), where a garbage dump and an open
sewer drain are located because the clay layers do not
611
allow the leakage of pollutants from these sources.
Surface water, which accumulates after the rainy sea-
son, is observed in the ecological reservation (central
part of the Chalco Basin).
About 75% of the total industry in the Basin is
located in the transition and hilly zones (AIC-ANIAC,
1995). Most of these industries operate with no en-
vironmental controls. The generation and disposal of
liquid and solid wastes is unknown.
The ¯ow of groundwater from the aquitard towards
the aquifers does not greatly modify mineralization
content. However, the vulnerability of the deep aquifer
increases towards the margins of the Basin, where a
transition zone between the ®ne granular sediments
and volcanic materials of the surrounding ranges is
located.
Many cities (Aguascalientes, Toluca, San Luis
Potosi) are located in intermountain valleys where
lacustrine processes produce clay formations.
Land subsidence in the Basin of Mexico cannot
totally be stopped; only controlled. The water supply
system of Mexico City depends on groundwater from
the deep aquifer. The Cutzamala-Lerma System cannot
supply more than 15 m3/s from external sources. One
partial solution is to drill deep wells instead of shallow
wells in order to avoid direct extraction from clay
units. New wells have a depth of 400 m or more.
Another solution is to re-use wastewater in arti®cial
recharge systems. Some technical problems must be
solved: the sewage systems collect domestic sewage and
industrial sewage as well as rainwater. The wastewater
treatment systems must guarantee water of an accepta-
ble quality. This is only possible with an adequate
wastewater discharge regime.
The irregular distribution of surface fractures pro-
voked by subsidence can be explained in terms of the
geometry of the lacustrine sediments. In Chalco, for
instance, the subsidence is greater because the sediment
package has an average thickness of 300±400 m.
(GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn, 1992). Subsidence also produces ad-
ditional mineralized ¯ows from the aquitard. The shal-
low groundwater from Chalco contains 1100 mg/l of
total dissolved solids, while the standard values for
groundwater mineralization in the valley are 300±
400 mg/l.
The most a€ected residential areas are poor areas,
where construction are done without technical advice,
with a mixture of materials. Improving construction
methods can minimize damage and regulations have
been proposed taking seismicity and subsidence into
consideration.
Groundwater rise has not been given enough study
or consideration. Piezometric ``domes'' may not a€ect
basements, but gasoline or diesel leakage ¯oating on
top of shallow water levels may mobilize LNAPLs
(light non-aqueous phase liquids), increasing the
612 T. GonzaÂlez-MoraÂn et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 12 (1999) 607±613
volume of hydrocarbon in solution in groundwater.
These leaks originate from ®lling stations (Sandoval,
1998). The reported leakage from water pipelines and
sewers is estimated at 20±40%, (DGCOH-IGF,
UNAM, 1994). This mixture of water (drinking water
and wastewater) in the subsoil can foster the presence
of organic compounds, for instance trihalomethanes,
in groundwater (Fair, 1995).
At the beginning of this century, the sewage gener-
ated by 345,000 inhabitants discharged through the
Grand Drainage Canal and the Tequisquiac tunnel to
the north end of the valley (Gurria, 1978). At present,
the seepage is discharged into the Tula River which
¯ows into the Moctezuma-PaÂnuco River. In the late
1990s, sewage reached 27 m3/s, of which only 3 to
5 m3/s are treated and re-used in Xochimilco and
Texcoco lakes. The rest (23 m3/s), is exported by the
Deep Drainage System. It is used in the ZimapaÂn
hydroelectrical project, before discharging into the
Gulf of Mexico (RodrõÂ guez et al., 1998).
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