Mexico City, Mexico - October 12, 2024

Mexico City, Mexico - Recent

People in Mexico City have suffered from severe water shortage for months, as the local reservoir hits historic lows after enduring the worst drought in decades.

Located in southeastern Mexico City, Iztapalapa is one of the most water-scarce communities in the megacity of 22 million residents.

Local resident Ines runs a street stall there to sell Taco, a kind of local snack, and beef broth which needs a large amount of water to cook.

Due to the water shortage, however, she has to pay a high price to buy drinking water from water delivery workers every day, otherwise her business would be closed.

Many other residents in the city also have the painful experience of queuing overnight to collect water from water trucks. Therefore, local people have to save water as much as possible.

In fact, water shortage is a long-term problem for low- and middle-income communities in Mexico City.

But in the first half of this year, due to various reasons such as severe drought and a sharp drop in rainfall, the water supply in the city dropped to less than 30 percent of its total capacity. As a result, some high-income communities also suffer from water supply crisis.

Shotlist:
Mexico City, Mexico - Recent:
1. Various of local snack stands; vendor making snack;
2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ines, snack vendor (full name not given) (partially overlaid with shot 3):
"We need 60 liters to 80 liters of water every day, or if we don't have enough water to make the broth, customers would not come, thus affecting our business. Besides, cooking at home also needs water. It's so bad without water." ;
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
3. Various of customers having snacks at stall;
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4. Water containers on buildings' roofs;
5. Various of buckets of wastewater;
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Gonzalez, local resident (full name not given) (partially overlaid with shot 7/ending with shot 8):
"The problem of water shortage impacts us a lot, as without access to water, proper sanitation is unattainable for people. The problem is that the water level is so low in the reservoir but the water cannot get replenished due to widespread drought, so the water needs cannot be met as well. Therefore, most residents in the city have to conserve water as much as possible." ;
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
7. Various of river with little water;
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8. Traffic;
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Sandra, local resident (full name not given):
"What we can do is to save and recycle water as much as possible. For example, when I use the washing machine, I will use the wastewater to mop floor, water flowers and clean toilet." ;
10. Street scene seen from moving vehicle;
11. Statue of water tap;
12. Various of water pipes.

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