Water Use and Consumption: Industrial and Domestic

Abstract

Mexico’s annual average natural volume of water amounts to 446 km³ (about 0.2% of the total volume of water in the world, which is 200,000 km³). Mexico receives about 1489 thousand million m³ a year as rain—67% of this volume falls between June and September. The precipitation distribution is unequal across the territory. The southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Veracruz, and Tabasco get 49.6% of the total volume of precipitation. Of the total precipitation, it is estimated that 73% is lost to evapotranspiration, 22% becomes runoff to surface-water bodies, and 6% infiltrates groundwater aquifers (CONAGUA, Atlas del Agua en México 2016. Comision Nacional del Agua, Ciudad de Mexico, 2016a).

In the Human Development Report of 2006 published by UNDP, Mexico’s estimated per capita daily use of water was 388 liters, placing Mexico in the fifth place for water consumption (UNDP. J Gov Inf 28: 72–91, 2006). In 2015, 92.5% of households were connected to the local water-distribution system (95.7% in cities, 81.6% in rural communities). The water stress in Mexico is considered strong if it is greater than 40%. The average national in 2015 was 19.2% (maximum 138.7%, minimum 1.7%), which is classified as moderate. In Mexico in 2016, reported water-use distribution was as follows: 76.3% agriculture, 14.6% drinking water distribution, 4.8% thermoelectric, and 4.3% for industrial use. Of the water used in Mexico, 61.1% comes from surface-water sources and 38.9% from aquifers (CONAGUA 2016a).

Of the 76.3% of water used for agriculture, 61.1% of the water comes from surface-water sources. The annual surface used for crops production varied during 2008–2012 between 21.8 and 22.1 million hectares (11.25% from a total surface of 196.4 million hectares). The irrigated crop area was 6.5 million hectares (29.41% of total area of crops). On the other hand, of the 18.9% of water used for domestic and industrial use, 58.6% comes from groundwater. The National Water Commission in Mexico reports that the percentage of homes with running water is almost 89% (CONAGUA 2016a).