Aquatic systems and water security in the Metropolitan Valley of Mexico City
In megacities water quantity and quality are threatened by complex and interrelated processes caused by population growth, land use change, unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation, erosion, destruction of ecosystems, lack of planning, laissez-faire policies, unsustainable water management, political conflicts, and increasingly also by the impacts of climate change. In the Metropolitan Valley of Mexico City (MVMC) located in the high plateau of Mexico City and on former lakes, the dry out policies during the last 300 years have been counterproductive, causing scarcity, pollution, health and environmental problems, subsidence and water conflicts, particularly affecting social vulnerable people. Megacities require an integrated management of water and aquatic systems — integral water resource management, rainwater harvesting, maintenance and replacement of infrastructure, restoration of ecosystems and urban planning. This implies investments and a water culture including a transparent administration and peaceful negotiation of conflicts regarding concessions, access, and reuse of water allocation. Socio-political and environmental processes are complex; besides technical factors and ecosystem recovery, socio-cultural changes must transform human settlements and power structures.
Chemometric Analysis of Wetlands Remnants of the Former Texcoco Lake: A Multivariate Approach
The former Texcoco Lake (TL) belongs to a closed basin (Basin of México), with a semiarid climate and soil types Solonchaks and Vertisol, which confer saline and alkaline properties to the waterbodies. Historically, this lake has been facing extraction of salt for agricultural and livestock use. As a result of population growth, the lake has lost more than 95% of its surface; however, currently TL is formed by permanent and temporary shallow wetlands interconnected by the rainy season which are used as buffer zones to avoid possible floods to the City of Mexico and as receptors of wastewater discharges. Due to the above, the former TL has a very diverse mosaic of conditions in the remain‐ ing wetlands, therefore their quality assessment comprises a complex task of interpreta‐ tion and analysis. To perform this, it is important to have a series of indicators and analysis tools that take into account the state of contamination of the waterbodies in different periods of study. Additionally, is imperative to have essential elements of interpreta‐ tion which allow to combine all the features of analysis in a comprehensive scrutiny of the health status of these water bodies. The purpose of this research is to analyze the quality of water and sediments of the remaining wetlands located in the basin of the former TL through various physicochemical parameters and heavy metals, and using multivari‐ ate methods and water and sediment quality indices.
Implementation of Tourism Satellite Account: Assessing the Contribution of Tourism to the Croatian Economy
Compiling the indicators of tourism consumption and the output of tourism industries, Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) provides a framework for internationally harmonized measurements of direct macroeconomic contribution of tourism. Ivandic and Marusic provide a detailed methodological approach for the transfer of TSA theoretical concepts to the assessment of tourism economic contribution on the case of the Croatia. Giving that the TSA compilation is still characterized by a surprisingly wide range of ‘styles’ used, the chapter contributes to a better understanding of the issues related to measurement of direct tourism impacts. It also gives a set of baseline criteria for resource allocation within tourism policy and the further evaluation of its effectiveness.