1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Issues Affecting Water Quality and Availability in
Mexico’s Lerma River and Lake Chapala as
Monitored by NASA EOS
Wise, VA
Rebecca Tate – The University of Virginia’s College at Wise
J. Casey Cavanagh – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Zhaohui Chi – Texas A&M University
Luis Jiménez - Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
José Juárez Olivas - Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de
Monterrey
Juan Manuel Sáenz Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
www.nasa.gov
2. Water Quality and Availability in Mexico’s
Lerma River
• Community Concerns
Water shortage due to unsustainable use of the
Lerma’s water by dense population, large demand
from agriculture, and large scale industrial activity
Deforestation and its affect on rain rate
Health effects of using contaminated water
• Potential Partners
Comisión Nacional del Agua
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo
Science Advisors
Instituto Nacional de estadística y geografía
DeWayne Cecil, PhD
• Decision Making Process & Partner Needs National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Use NASA satellites to measure rain rate and water Administration
availability as well as land use and contaminant Jorge Garcia, PhD
concentrations Instituto Tecnológico y de
Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
http://www.watersongs.org/schedule.htm
Luis Ángel Garza Rodríguez, PhD
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Universidad Regiomontana
DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
3. Project Methodology
Satellites Utilized
Landsat 5
Data Acquisition, Processing & Analysis
• Landsat images uploaded into ERDAS software
• Satellite images imported into ArcGIS
• Lake Chapala pollution concentration prediction model
created with Microsoft Visual Studio C++
• GRACE – Jet Propulsion Lab
• Population and agricultural data were plotted in time
series to predict their trending
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
4. Study Area
Study Area & Period
Our study is focused on the Lerma
River and three of the five states
through which it runs (Guanajuato,
Jalisco, and Michoacan), as well
as the river’s destination, Lake
Chapala. The majority of our
information is obtained from the
period 2000-2010.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov 4
5. Overpopulation
The Lerma River watershed is
one of the most densely
populated areas in Mexico. The
population of our study states,
included in this watershed, has
greatly increased in the past two
decades. This growth is proving
to be unsustainable with the
reduction of water availability and
quality of the area’s sources, the
Lerma River and Lake Chapala.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
6. Overexploitation of Lake Chapala
• Current aqueduct withdrawals 180 Mm^3 annually from Lake Chapala
Manmade desertification of Lake in 2003
• Additional aqueduct being designed to tap an additional 60 Mm^3/year
• Population of Guadalajara expected to reach 7mil by 2025
http://goo.gl/Xov7u
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
7. Water Stress
Current water stress of Jalisco is 40.76%
• Future projections place most of Mexico in serious water scarcity by 2030
• Deforestation of the area has caused a reduction in cloud cover and
precipitation
• Over exploitation of Lerma has decreased expected flow rate of 1765.8
Mm3/year to 524.7 Mm3/year
70.2% reduction in flow rate
• Lake Chapala was only at 68% capacity in 2009
http://www.conagua.gob.mx/english07/publications/EAM2010Ingles_Baja.pdf
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
9. Agriculture Type and Efficiency
• Compared to smaller, more traditional irrigation,
large scale, modern irrigation uses more efficient
methods of watering plants, such as drip
irrigation and sprinkler systems.
• Small scale, traditional irrigation, which
comprises most of the irrigation in our study
area, relies on flood irrigation and can also have
less sanitary and regulated waste disposal.
Image source:
http://www.conagua.gob.mx/english07/publications/2
030_water_agenda.pdf
Data source: http://cityfarmer.org/chapala.html
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
10. Land Use / Land Cover Change Map
(2001-2009)
Data source: https://wist.echo.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
11. Land Use / Land Cover Change Map
Data source: https://wist.echo.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
12. Area Sown of Major Crop Products (2001-2009)
• Compared with 2001, the area sown of
the most popular grain maize has been
decreasing in the following seven
years.
• Meanwhile, the areas sown of the other
two major crop products have been
enlarged, particularly by Jalisco State.
Crops Water Requirements
(mm/ha)
Grain maize 1
350-800
Data source: http://www.inegi.org.mx
Pasture 2
8.9x 10-4 - 12.7 x 10-4 1: http://www.netafim.com/crop/corn
2: http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
13. Health Concerns
Diseases included:
•Cholera
•Typhoid
•Diarrhea
•Malaria
•Parasitical and Helminthes
Infections
Cysticercosis
Schistosomiasis
Data source:
http://www.sinais.salud.gob.mx/basesdedatos/
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
14. Agriculture & Health Concerns
Many correlations have been
found between the use of
agrochemicals and the
occurrence of Hodgkin’s and non-
Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Photo source: http://healthmap.wordpress.com/
Data source: http://www.sinais.salud.gob.mx/basesdedatos/
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
15. Mathematical Model for Water Quality
Projections
• Model will be able to predict when Lake Chapala will meet US EPA standards
• Concept stems from differential equations using volumetric flow rates into and
out of a tank.
• Program was entirely conceptualized and developed during Summer 2011.
Santiago
River Lake
Chapala Lerma
River
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
16. Predictions for Various Pollutants
Pollutan Present [ ] EPA Minimum Estimated
t (mg/L) Standard Year
PO4 0.571 .025 2057
Cd 0.0096 .005 2021
TDS 837 500 2029
Pb .109 .015 2040
Hg .0006 .0002 2027
DDT 3.4 .001 2131
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
17. Conclusions
• Lake levels of several substances (DDT, phosphates) would not reach EPA
standards for several years
• Decrease in precipitation
• Increase in deforestation
• High rates of death related to agrochemical use and water pollution in our study
area
• Decrease of sown area of grain maize, increase of other domestic crops that
require less water
Image source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12011900?
source=wapi&referrer=kh.google.com
National Aeronautics and Space Administration DEVELOP National Program http://develop.larc.nasa.gov 17
