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The text details the increase in overexploited aquifers in Mexico from 35 in 1975 to 123 in 2009, with a total deficit of 5,490 million cubic meters. In Hermosillo, the Costa de Hermosillo and Mesa del Seri-La Victoria aquifers support a population of over 700,000 and 65,000 hectares of irrigation. Despite the 2013 opening of the Acueducto Independencia to transport 75 million cubic meters from the Yaqui river basin, agricultural consumption in the municipality exceeds 570 million cubic meters annually, driven largely by subsidies.

The research examines four case studies in Argentina, Mexico, and the USA to demonstrate how disconnected or neoliberal water policies exacerbate vulnerabilities for less privileged groups in arid regions. It argues that water policies act as key non-climatic factors that can either increase or reduce climate vulnerability depending on their inclusivity and coordination with other resource policies.