Thirsty cities : urban environments and water supply in Latin America

Many cities in Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing a water crisis as sources become exhausted or degraded. Urbanization, deteriorating infrastructures with a lack of funds for repairs, and inadequate polices are conspiring to cause water shortages. People are becoming concentrated in megacities, such as Mexico City with a population of almost 23 million, that have outgrown their water-supply systems. Urban areas are increasingly incapable of supplying water and sewer systems for their populations. By the year 2020, more than 500 million inhabitants of Latin America (two-thirds of the population) will be living in cities of more than 100 000. Water shortages are a complex issue of both supply and demand. In Thirsty Cities, author Danilo Anton provides pertinent geological and environmental information as he discusses surface and groundwater supplies and explores the many issues surrounding access to water in cities. He explains the significance of surface water contamination and the vulnerability of groundwater systems and provides a persuasive argument that the consequences of this situation may be catastrophic. He also outlines policies and investments that are needed to improve urban water supplies. Latin America: The Thirsty Cities is a one-hour video that complements the book. It investigates water issues in four Latin American cities: Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Lima and Sao Paulo. The video is available through the National Film Board of Canada. How is the Latin American and Caribbean region going to cope with the need to understand the nature, dynamics, and vulnerability of groundwater systems? How is it going to deal with the contradiction arising from growing needs, increasing environmental degradation, and lack of expertise and financial resources? This document offers answers to these questions. It discusses the Latin American environment, environmental degradation and inadequate policies, hydrological basins, groundwater sources, cities depending on surface water, cities depending on both surface and underground water, cities depending mainly on groundwater, management of water resources, sustainable development of water systems, and quenching the urban thirst Presents an overview of water supply and water management issues in relation to the ever-increasing population in Latin America and the Caribbean, including geological and socioeconomic issues. Case studies explore different approaches to municipal dependencies on surface and underground water resources Danilo J. Anton. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [169]-179) And Index.