Valuation of hidden water ecosystem services : the replacement cost of the aquifer system in Central Mexico
Resumen en inglés: "This paper reports research estimating the costs of replacing the groundwater that the metropolitan areas of Mexico City, Toluca, and Cuernavaca, in Central Mexico, pump from 10 over-exploited aquifers with 6 supply alternatives of surface water. These aquifers provide about 70% of the water required by more than 28 million people, and their recharge zones in forested areas are increasingly threatened by economic activities. By designing a constrained optimization program that minimizes investment and operation costs, we found that replacing groundwater extraction involves the construction of all six alternatives at an estimated cost of US$25 billion at present values (US$0.6 m−³ over a 26-year period). We designed and analyzed a scenario to combine measures to reduce water leaks in Mexico City; a positive balance was found: every dollar invested in leak control reduces replacement costs by between US$1.9 and US$8.4. Therefore, our results suggest the prioritization of leak control measures in order to reduce extraction from over-exploited aquifers. Local authorities should be warned about the economics of losing ecosystem services that are crucial to sustaining the population and the economic activities in the region of study. "
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| Format: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | info:eu-repo/classification/Tesauro/Acuíferos;Escasez de agua;Valor económico;Explotación hidráulica;Conservación de bosques, info:eu-repo/classification/Tesauro/Aquifers;Water shortages;Economic value;Hydraulic exploitation;Forest conservation, info:eu-repo/classification/cti/1, info:eu-repo/classification/cti/25, |
| Online Access: | http://ecosur.repositorioinstitucional.mx/jspui/handle/1017/1278 |
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