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Abstract
Groundwater use intensity and aquifer depletion increase from south to north with decreasing rainfall and increasing economic activity in Mexico. To heighten scholarly understanding and offer new insights that strengthen policy responses to aquifer depletion, we analyze the spatial distribution of agricultural groundwater use from irrigation well titles in 2,429 municipalities and its relation to agricultural surface water and population employed in agriculture. Exploratory spatial data analysis reveals spatial dependence among all three variables implying that policy initiatives to address intensive groundwater use must be targeted at clusters of aquifers and municipalities.
La intensidad del uso de agua subterránea y el agotamiento de los acuíferos en México se incrementan de sur a norte en relación con la disminución de la lluvia y el incremento de la actividad económica. Para mejorar la comprensión de estos problemas y explorar nuevas ideas que fortalezcan las políticas de respuesta al agotamiento de acuíferos, analizamos la distribución espacial del uso agrícola de agua subterránea extraída de pozos autorizados en 2.429 municipios, y su relación con el uso de agua agrícola de superficie y la población empleada en agricultura. El análisis exploratorio de los datos espaciales revela una dependencia espacial entre todas las tres variables, lo cual implica que las iniciativas sobre políticas que afronten el uso intensivo de agua subterránea deben concentrarse en agrupamientos específicos de acuíferos y municipalidades.
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Acknowledgments
His research interests include water management and policy, climate and water variability, urban water demand, water reuse, the energy–water nexus, and groundwater in the Southwest United States, Mexico, and South Asia.
His research interests include economic growth, economic geography, regional and local development, and public policy with special emphasis on the European Union.
His research interests include human–environment interactions, water management and policy, and spatial analysis with emphasis on Mexico.
Notes
*This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) SGP-HD No. 005, which is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant GEO-0642841), and by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sectoral Application Research Program. The study design, data collection and analysis, and preparation of this article were entirely determined by the authors.
