Revista Digital Agua Simple – Agua y biodiversidad

Notas de agua - Revista digital Agua Simple

Water notes

The impact of industrial pollution on Mexico’s waterways

By Claudia Constanza Garduño Rojas, Ana Paula Alfonso Cuadras and Diego Echaniz

How does water pollution from factories affect aquatic life in Mexico?

In Mexico just like in many other countries industrial pollution represents a huge threat to aquatic life. Factories carelessly dump harmful chemicals, contaminating substances and waste to water bodies such as rivers, lakes and the sea which can provoke the destruction of marine ecosystems.

Factories polluting water bodies in Mexico lead to severe consequences for aquatic life with high risk of not being able to recover it. These contaminants include mineral, chemical and biological waste as well as pesticides, toxic waste such as lead, mercury, sulfur and more. These types of contaminants spread rapidly through the water threatening the aquatic organisms’ wellbeing, destroying habitats on its way, endangering species, disrupting the nature of the food chain and causing species migration attempting to stay safe.

Water bodies are fundamental since they are home to thousand species where a great diversity is found. These ecosystems support a huge variety of food and support the nature of the food chain, as mentioned before they are the main home for every aquatic species including amphibians, some insects and even some air and land animals just like the hippopotamus.

It is a very difficult situation to solve, but it is not impossible. In efforts to attempt to reduce this problem involving Mexico’s water pollution, it has been proposed to implement stronger and stricter regulations and restrictions which should totally improve waste management, however these practices are not being implemented in the country just yet or at least they haven’t shown any visual result yet.

Some of the greatest proposals are:

  • Environmental audit programs: The Ministry of Environment and Natural

Resources (SEMARNAT) has proposed implementing mandatory environmental audit programs for industries to monitor and ensure compliance with environmental regulations, including those related to water pollution.

  • Reform of the National Water Law (LAN): Modifying LAN to strengthen regulations on the use and discharge of water by industries has been proposed. This reform aims to establish stricter limits for water pollution and impose harsher penalties for those who fail to comply with the regulations.
  • Enhanced surveillance and enforcement: Strengthening surveillance and enforcement mechanisms to ensure industries comply with existing environmental regulations has been proposed. This includes increasing the number of inspections and imposing stricter penalties for violations.

MIRA Pensadoras Urbanas (2022) say that by 2030 they seek to:

“By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the percentage of untreated wastewater and significantly increasing recycling and safe reuse by global level.

Promote the participation of the population, particularly women and civil society, in the formation of continuous monitoring programs for the quality of drinking water.

Channel resources so that each city has at least one wastewater treatment plant, enough to receive 90% of the blackwater generated.

Implement soil regeneration actions to facilitate the water cycle”.

The proposals trying to solve the water and environmental problems are working along with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) in this case the selected SDGs are:

  • Goal 3. Health and Wellness. Ensure healthy living and promote wellness for all at all ages.
  • Goal 6. Clean Water and Sanitation. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
  • Goal 13. Climate Action. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects.
  • Goal 14. Underwater Life. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.
Indicadores de la calidad del agua superficial. Fuente: Rodríguez (2022).
Indicadores de la calidad del agua superficial.
Fuente: Rodríguez (2022).

“The industry is one of the largest polluters of water resources, annually dumping between 300 and 500 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other waste. These pollutants make the water undrinkable while contaminating and killing fish, which are an important source of protein for a large part of the population, especially the poorest.” (Agua e Industria En La Economía Verde Nota Informativa 1, n.d.).

Throughout the years this has been a concerning problem for the country in several aspects, economical, environmental and also cultural. Mexico is one of the most megadiverse countries being home to millions of animals and plants in fact “Nearly 60% of the world’s species live in the water” (García-Liñán, 2015) However as the years go by there has been barely any change in this situation.

Descargas de aguas residuales no municipales, incluyendo la industria, 2000-2017. Fuente de la información: Semarnat (2018).
Descargas de aguas residuales no municipales, incluyendo la industria, 2000-2017.
Fuente de la información: Semarnat (2018).

“More than 70% of rivers, lakes and dams have some degree of contamination”, according to a 2018 study on the protection of water bodies done jointly by the National Human Rights Commission and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Secondary ideas

  • Water quality degradation. The decline in the quality of water meaning its safety and cleanliness in this case caused by industries’ waste and careless pollution releasing harmful substances and chemicals altering the water’s quality.
  • Habitat destruction. The huge loss of coral, plants, anemones and destruction of living places for aquatic organisms lead to migration of species in which not all of them succeed to survive and leads to the extinction of species.
  • Health risks for aquatic organisms. Industries’ pollutants in Mexico harm aquatic organisms, disrupting ecosystems and endangering marine life and sometimes the migration of species in an attempt to save their life can actually endanger other species just like the lionfish that is now considered a plague in the Caribbean.

What is our plan

With further investigation, additional data, and the guidance of our teacher, our team is looking forward to create a shift in people’s mindsets regarding industrial water contamination in Mexico and its negative and destructive effects on aquatic life. By crafting infographics that are both visually appealing and full of useful information, we want to make difficult or daunting information easily readable for the general public. Additionally, through the creation posters as well, we are expecting for reflection and awareness about this issue that often goes unaddressed. We believe that by increasing awareness, we can pave the way for great and significant solutions and hard work with action to safeguard our aquatic ecosystems.

Sources of reference

Conagua, Comisión Nacional del Agua. (1998-2017). Situación del Subsector Agua Potable, Alcantarillado y Saneamiento. Ediciones 1998-2017. México, DF, México: Comisión Nacional del Agua.

Conagua, Comisión Nacional del Agua. (2010). Estadísticas del agua en México. Edición 2010. México, DF, México: Comisión Nacional del Agua.

Conagua, Comisión Nacional del Agua. (2014-2016). Estadísticas del agua en México. Ediciones 2014-2016. México, DF, México: Comisión Nacional del Agua.

García-Liñán, S. (7 de julio, 2015). Contaminación del agua. El Financiero. Recuperado de https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx

Haczek, Á. R. (9 de noviembre, 2021). 10 cifras para entender el problema del agua en México. CNN. Recuperado de https://cnnespanol.cnn.com

INEGI, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. (20 de marzo, 2018). Estadísticas a propósito del Día Mundial del Agua. Recuperado de https://www.inegi.org.mx

MIRA Pensadoras Urbanas. (2022).  Objetivo 6. Agua limpia y saneamiento. Recuperado de https://sites.google.com/

Programa de ONU-Agua para la Promoción y la Comunicación en el marco del Decenio (UNW-DPAC). Agua e industria en la economía verde Nota informativa 1. (s.f.). Recuperado de https://www.un.org

Rodríguez, I. (1 de agosto, 2022). Contaminada, 59.1% del agua superficial de México. El Economista. Recuperado de https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/

SINA & Conagua, Sistema Nacional de Información del Agua & Comisión Nacional del Agua. (s.f.). Descarga de aguas residuales. Recuperado de http://sina.conagua.gob.mx/

Semarnat, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. (2018). Informe del Medio Ambiente. Recuperado de  https://apps1.semarnat.gob.mx

Tinoco-Morales, O. (5 de marzo, 2024). Este es el plan de la UNAM para solucionar la crisis de agua en la Ciudad de México. Infobae. Recuperado de https://www.infobae.com