Conagua to invest MXN $221 million to rescue Lake Texcoco

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After the cancellation of the New International Airport of Mexico (NAIM) , the National Water Commission (Conagua) will spend MXN $221 million in 44 feasibility studies for the “rehabilitation and rescue of the Lake Texcoco .”

The objective is to develop actions that answer to the needs of the activities of restoration and environmental preservation in the federal area of Lake Texcoco, as well as taking care of the lakes Nabor Carrillo and Recreativo , according to information to which EL UNIVERSAL had access.

Conagua insists that “with the works for the construction of the NAIM, the Lake Texcoco area was highly affected by drainage , with the objective to perform activities for the installation of the infrastructure of the terminal, the control tower, landing strips, and roads, drastically changing the original hydraulic and environmental conditions .”

The management of the Lake Texcoco Ecologic Park of the Conagua highlights that the new airport was canceled by the end of 2018 , and in its place, it was decided to build, along with the federal area, the Lake Texcoco Ecologic Project , a world-scale metropolitan park.

The project for the rehabilitation of the lake contemplates complementary works to the essential works for drainage and the control of floods in the East of Mexico City’s Metropolitan Area, as well as building the Lake Texcoco Ecologic Park (PELT) in the area where hydric infrastructure and restoration works had been developed previously in the federal zone, through the development of public spaces with reforestation and the construction of sports, cultural and educational areas .

This implies that it is necessary to rehabilitate, preserve and give maintenance to the whole area to ensure adequate conditions for its recreational use .

Since the area where the park will be has been the object of multiple actions of urban infrastructure , among which stand out the works for the new airport, currently, the area is suffering from environmental and hydrologic damage that must be assessed through pre-investment studies .

In addition, the characteristics of the soil in the area generate constant differential movements that have to be evaluated to characterize the actions of maintenance of the existing infrastructure, as well as future works in the area.

Water supply crisis at Mexico City International Airport

Required studies.

Evaluations are needed, specifies Conagua, because by this time “there are not updated technical studies that allow determining with precision the current state of the area of the Lake Texcoco, because the land includes the unfinished works of the NAIM.”

In the case of the Nabor Carrillo area, Conagua points out that due to the drainage works in the area, it has low water levels and there are big areas with a high volume of sediment , plus, its embankments are damaged because of different ground subsidences.

“They are bare soils which, due to the characteristics of the soil in the region, are a source of emission of PM10 particles , turning into a risk for public health of more than 60% of the population of the Valley of Mexico’s Metropolitan Area.”

Three areas of analysis.

In the zone where the works for the Texcoco airport were done, Conagua details that it was the area “that has suffered bigger environmental impact within the polygon of what will be the ecologic project, reason why the damages can be analyzed in three spheres: hydrological modifications, impact on fauna and flora, as well as presence of buildings.

In the Caracol Area , there were multiple social conflicts and court proceedings , because of the indetermination of land-owning, reason why it is necessary to perform the studies to determine the legal situation of the land in the region.

Additionally, it is essential to develop technical studies to establish the conditions of the soil and the availability of water in the area to determine if it is plausible to introduce, again, a productive space.

Conagua said that there will be biddings for the 44 studies among specialized companies and that they must be ready before the end of this year, to prevent lag in the execution of the new ecologic project to be built in the area.

“This way, there will be anticipated solutions to deal with each of the contemplated problems in the different visits to the site, as well as those shown in the results of the studies.”