Drying out: water, society and climate in central Mexico

Our approach is to combine methods from the physical and social sciences to explore the complex relationships between climate, water and society with reference to the Valle de Santiago, central Mexico. Valle de Santiago is notable for a series of crater lakes which have undergone dramatic falls in water level (complete desiccation in some cases), over at least the last 20 years. Local fishing communities and farmers have seen their livelihoods disappear. Water levels in lakes across the wider region have also fallen. The reasons for this trend have been disputed, with climatic change, sedimentation due to excessive erosion and groundwater abstraction all cited as possible causes. Groundwater abstraction seems the most likely, but this has not been explored systematically. The changing context of land ownership and water rights will be a key element of the study, as will differences between indigenous and Spanish populations, and public and private institutions. The integration of personal accounts, instrumental data, historical archives and high resolution lake sediment records will provide both a record of hydrological change and a means of exploring the economic and social drivers of, and responses to, water availability.