Ecobreves – MEXICO: Fees for Water Will Preserve Green Zones

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

MEXICO CITY, Nov 3 2008 (IPS) - A fund that will be financed by a five-percent hike in fees for potable water services will go to rural residents of 88,000 hectares surrounding the Mexican capital. The funding will begin in January, Ramón Aguirre, director of the city water systems, told Tierramérica.

The rural residents, who own 70 percent of those lands, will receive this compensation in exchange for preserving them as recharging zones for the area aquifers.

Less than 50 percent of the land is maintained as conservation area. One-third is used for farming and the rest is in the process of being urbanized.

A large part of the potable water used in Mexico City comes from underground sources, but is being consumed at a faster rate than it can recharge, according to the National Water Commission.