Groundwater use in agriculture risks aquifer over-exploitation: Managing water at the local level in Mexico to buffer against global change

This fact sheet describes research on the spatial distribution of groundwater and surface water use in Mexican agriculture. It argues that managing water resources at the municipality scale, rather than the larger river basin or aquifer scale used by the National Water Commission, is essential for identifying where demand management is required versus where water reallocations can mitigate aquifer over-exploitation.

• Mexico pumps approximately 29 km3 of groundwater every year, with the agricultural sector accounting for more than two-thirds of that volume. Groundwater provides one-third of agricultural water, half of industrial water, and two-thirds of the water used by urban populations.
• Over-allocation of water resources in certain regions of Mexico leads to several environmental and social risks, including irreversible degradation of water quality, the depletion of aquifers, the capture of shallow surface flows that support riparian habitats, and the compromise of resources for future generations.
• While the Comisión Nacional del Agua manages groundwater based on supply and extraction balances at the scale of aquifers and river basins, research indicates that exploitation levels vary significantly at the smaller scale of individual municipalities. Consequently, management interventions and data requirements differ between municipalities.
• Spatial analysis of municipality-scale data allows policymakers to distinguish between different management needs: in areas where both a municipality and its neighbors rely heavily on groundwater, demand must be reduced; in areas where neighboring municipalities have differing water uses, supply can be managed through transfers or adjusted allocations.
• Large groundwater titles are particularly concentrated in the north and center of Mexico, specifically in the north-central highlands, the Baja California peninsula, and around the Sea of Cortez. In the arid and semiarid North, groundwater is used as an on-demand source for high-value crops for global and U.S. markets and as a buffer against climate-driven surface water variability.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2011). Groundwater use in agriculture risks aquifer over-exploitation: Managing water at the local level in Mexico to buffer against global change. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/snapshot9_EN.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Groundwater use in agriculture risks aquifer over-exploitation: Managing water at the local level in Mexico to buffer against global change. 2011. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/snapshot9_EN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Groundwater use in agriculture risks aquifer over-exploitation: Managing water at the local level in Mexico to buffer against global change |date=2011 |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/snapshot9_EN.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2011groundwater, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Groundwater use in agriculture risks aquifer over-exploitation: Managing water at the local level in Mexico to buffer against global change}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2011}, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/snapshot9_EN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }