The Roots of Water Conservation in Mexico
As Mexico experiences one of the hottest and driest years on record, the vital need to protect watersheds remains at the forefront for many of our partner communities. This summer, nearly 68% of the country faces moderate to extreme drought, and large stretches of Mexico City came dangerously close to losing water access entirely.
When the Aztecs initially established Tenochtitlan – what is now Mexico City – upon a lakebed island, they constructed complex networks of bridges and canals to manage surrounding water resources. Spanish settlers, however, drained the lake and filled canals, as they considered the water a barrier to the city’s expansion.
Over time, wetlands, rivers, and forests have been replaced by concrete and asphalt, disrupting the natural systems through which the city’s aquifers are replenished. A combination of corporate water privatization and mining have put additional pressure on water resources, and climate change is deepening scarcity in the region.
Amidst this challenging context, our newest partner organization, Red Mexicana de Organizaciones Campesinas Forestales (RedMOCAF), is supporting community-based ejidos in restoring water systems – at the root. As these communities understand deeply, access to water is intimately tied to the health of forests. Much of the water that replenishes urban areas like Mexico City comes from the forested watersheds surrounding them, largely managed by mestizo and Indigenous leaders within ejidos.
Ejidos are communal areas of land, established as part of land reform following the Mexican Revolution. Defined by a deeply communal and equitable orientation, ejidos can not be sold nor divided, and local communities manage economic and conservation activities upon them. More than half of Mexico’s land surface is now managed within community-based ejidos, including the many vital watersheds, forests, and ecosystems that sustain major cities. Some ejidos receive funding through the state's Payment for Environmental Services (PES) program, but due to broader budget cuts and lack of support for conservation at the institutional level, community forest management efforts of many ejidos require alternative sources of financing.
Our partnership with RedMOCAF seeks to help address this gap, supporting ejidos in continuing to carry out the vital work of restoring watersheds, and providing economic incentives for ejido representatives. Within our pilot project in Puebla, for example, we will collaborate with the Acolihuia ejido to reforest 9 hectares of degraded lands while equipping local women with tools and training to bolster waste-wood handicraft production. Other ejidos working with RedMOCAF are engaged in ecotourism, agroecology, environmental education, and the establishment of native tree nurseries, amongst many other efforts to sustain both ecological health and local economic opportunity.
These communities, in their everyday actions, affirm the understanding that restoring broader ecosystems is key to conserving the resources upon which we all depend. As, globally, we face an uncertain future, the need for water can divide us – or it can bring us together. Water is an inherently collective resource and its conservation will continue to take a deeply collective effort.
