Improving Groundwater Management in the Peninsula of Yucatan Through Virtual Training
Presented on Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Luis E. Marin, Ph.D.1, Rosa Leal-Bautista2 and Alejandro Lopez-Tamayo3, (1)Inst de Geofisica UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico, (2)Water Sciences Unit, Yucatan Center for Scientific Research, Quintana Roo, Mexico, (3)Water Science Unit, Center of Scientific Research of Yucatan, Cancun, Mexico
Water availability in Mexico has decreased from almost 18,000 m
3/inhabitant per year in 1950 to almost 4000 m
3/inhabitant per year in 2013 according to the Comisión Nacional del Agua (National Water Commission). Drinking water supplies for the Peninsula of Yucatan come from a sole-source aquifer which consists of a thin, fresh water lens. Water-related decisions originally were taken in the central offices in Mexico City of the National Water Commission. Recently, however, there has been a shift to manage water through 26 basin councils. The responsibility for water management in Yucatan falls under the auspices of the Peninsula of Yucatan Basin Council. One current weakness of this arrangement, however, is the lack of training of the members of the Peninsula of Yucatan Basin Council, both in hydrogeology and in the legal aspects.
A group of concerned citizens from academia, civil society, and the Mexican Federal Government have put together an online course to start teaching the “A-B-C´s” of water management and give an introduction into the Ley de Aguas Nacionales (National Water Law). The title of the course is “Water Management in Mexico” (Gestión del Agua en México). The course shows how the basin councils operate, what federal guidelines must be followed to comply with the National Water Law, and what are the legal requirements that all “water users” must follow.
The course is currently being offered as a graduate-level course at both Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Unidad de Ciencas del Agua of the Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán. To date, more than 35 persons are taking the course. This course will be followed with a second online course on Transparency, Accountability, and Integrity in the Water and Sanitation Sector in Mexico.
Luis E. Marin, Ph.D.
Inst de Geofisica UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
Luis Marin is Professor of Geology at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He is also the Chair of the Water Program of the Mexican Academy of Sciences, and co-chair of the Water Program for the Americas of the Inter American Network of Academies of Science. Marin has published more than 60 papers in the scientific literature. His current interest lies in improving decision-making based on science in water resources management.
Rosa Leal-Bautista
Water Sciences Unit, Yucatan Center for Scientific Research, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Rosa María Leal Bautista is Associated Researcher at Unidad de Ciencias del Agua at Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan. Chemical Eng. (B.E.) from Univ. Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla; Master of Environmental Eng. from the National University of Mexico; Ph.D. in Geology from Northern Illinois University, focusing on hydrogeology and contaminant aspects in the Peninsula de Yucatan, Mexico.
Alejandro Lopez-Tamayo
Water Science Unit, Center of Scientific Research of Yucatan, Cancun, Mexico
Alejandro Lopez-Tamayo is a Master student in the Water Science Graduate Program at Unidad de Ciencas del Agua of the Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán.
