Since 2017, UNDESA and UNDP have been working together with the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change of Mexico (INECC) to develop a climate, land, energy and water systems integrated assessment in one of the high priority areas of the country: the central region of México. This region represents around 5% of the total land area of the country, concentrates one third of the country’s population and around 35% of national GDP. However, it is also one of the regions with highest water stress, representing a great challenge for sustainable development. With this focus, UNDESA, in collaboration with UNDP and INECC have since worked on an integrated land-water model, starting with the hydrological component for which the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system was chosen.
To present progress of the project, in November 21-23, UNDESA, UNDP and INECC organized a working meeting in Mexico City. During the meeting, the necessary data required to complete the hydrological model, and the necessity to better represent competing water demands such as agriculture, domestic, public, commercial, industrial, livestock and mining were discussed. The working meeting was attended by technical government officials of INECC and CONAGUA, the main administrative body for water management in the country. Feedback was provided by the participants, providing inputs to improve the representation of the hydrological system of the central region of Mexico. Finally, a roadmap was outlined to complete the water analysis component of the project.