organized crime groupsin partnership with locals, They control several water wells in the municipalities of Tlalpan and Iztapalapa and to combat them Mexico City Water System (Sacmex) had to call the Secretary of Citizen Security Yet the National Guard, enter places at night and close the outlets.
He fight organized crime that water is stolen and distributed illegally has even spread to the State of Mexico, where the government of the Mexico City invested in a program to improve hydraulic infrastructure, and in Michoacán, where extensive irrigation areas were controlled by groups such as La Familia Michoacana that sells irrigation water to farmers.
What was done in Michoacan was invest in the modernization of irrigation systemswith money coming from the capital’s budget to avoid both the waste of water and the interference of criminal groups, this improvement allows reducing the amount used for irrigation and Mexico City is in a position to endure the drought.
These groups control the sale and distribution of water pipes in areas where there is low availability, and similar situations have also been found in Xochimilco and Tlahuac. These organized crime groups are related to loggers and illegal sawmills.
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The operations against clandestine shots and the irregular extractionr in the Mexico’s valley They started in 2019 and have as their main objective end the difference between the water that enters the system and that which is billed, Sacmex recognizes the existence of a technical loss due to problems in the distribution of water, but up to a certain level, after that it can be determined with certainty that there is theft.
The authorities explained that in the operational participates police capital and the Guard Nationalin each well that has been recovered, efforts have been made to avoid confrontation because the alleged criminals are in association with the community.
Yesterday The Sun of Mexico reported that during the current administration in Mexico City, the year 2023 is the year in which the most clandestine water extraction taps have been detected. According to the data provided by Sacmex to this newspaper, the mayor’s office where the number of reports of water intakes was concentrated last year was Tlalpan, with 31 cases. This territory is one of the most affected by water shortages in recent months.
From 2019 to 2023, Sacmex received 1,266 complaints about clandestine taps in the 16 municipalities, but only verified illegality in 110 cases.
Theft up to 50%
According to the data of the Sacmex, In 2019, the calculations were that at least 50 percent of the flow of the water in Mexico City It was stolen, it was not charged, it was not registered or everything at the same time. Currently with the fight against local criminal groups this factor to Last year’s closing time was 25 por cent.
To locate leaks, discrepancies between obtained and billed water are first reviewed, then on-site reviews are made with sonar to find if there are leaks or illegal pipes that are draining the network or well illegally. What is done there is to directly cut these hoses or tubes, close and recover the well or the pipe, depending. In the case of Mexico City, an aggressive program had to be carried out to modernize the operation of the water system.
We are talking about 157 works that imply a recovered flow of 2,590 liters per second with an investment of 1,4 million pesos. But in reality this is only in wells within the capital because they had to invest in other wells such as those in Lerma, PAI North and South and Chiconautla.
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Plus the investment made in 54 springs, 81 pumping plants and the creation of hydrometric sectors, a total of 3,648 million pesos were invested.
In this area, the investment is 1,720 million pesos for maintenance and replacement of 296 kilometers of water pipelines.