{"id":52,"date":"2026-07-23T13:41:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/?p=52"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T19:32:20","slug":"ecological-crisis-and-resilience-in-metztitlan-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/?p=52","title":{"rendered":"Ecological Crisis and Resilience in Metztitl\u00e1n, M\u00e9xico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ecological Crisis and Resilience in Metztitl\u00e1n, M\u00e9xico<\/h1>\n\n\n

Lily Zander<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Three-panel
The dried up river and lake within the municipality of Metztitlan are interposed by an overflowing agrochemical bottle depository found near local farm fields.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The negative synergies of emerging environmental crises and the effects of climate change after nearly a century of prioritizing neoliberal, free-market systems have been discussed and studied at length. Disproportionate Global North carbon emissions are provoking extreme heat waves, shorter rainy seasons, and intense tropical storms throughout the country of Mexico. The combined calamities of severe drought, intensive industrial agriculture, and gendered rural-out migration as a result of free-trade policy[1]<\/a> and environmentally-driven displacement are manifesting an economic process rooted in disaster capitalism (Wagner et al.) (White et al.), while vast landscapes previously connected to the adaptation knowledge of its indigenous inhabitants are now endangered on crisis levels. (Le\u00f3n Villalobos et al.) (Raziel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico City \u2013 one of the ten largest metropolitan areas in the world with over 23 million residents \u2013 has recently received international attention for its water crisis, in which shortages were projected to affect the Cutzamala system responsible for 27% of the city\u2019s water supply (Wagner et al.). Living in the age of water insecurity during a climate crisis signifies a projected 25% increase in water demand by 2050, while over 50% of the world\u2019s population currently experiences highly water-stressed conditions. However, Mexico City is just a fraction of the central region facing high water risk. Less than two hours north of Mexico City, municipalities throughout the state of Hidalgo are facing extremely high water depletion (over 75% of available supply) and extremely high water stress based on ratios of total demand and the likelihood of future droughts (Hanson et al.). But water scarcity has only served to highlight the intersectional, ecological conflicts inequitably affecting rural and Indigenous communities, such as those occurring in the municipality of Metztitl\u00e1n, Hidalgo where over 90% of residents depend on farming and fishing to survive (Enkerlin Hoeflich et al.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water resources are essential to the fisheries and farm fields of Metztitl\u00e1n, and the reason why over 188 migratory bird species \u2013 in addition to 9 endemic species of cactus and over 42 mammal species \u2013 call the natural protected area of the Reserva de la Biosfera Barranca de Metztitl\u00e1n home (Enkerlin Hoeflich et al.). Water scarcity has been added to the growing list of environmental calamities, including prolific crop pests and diseases, lack of soil fertility, cancer, dengue, and the contamination of lakes and rivers that will only be intensified by drought conditions. Disaster capitalism has presented private-interest interventions in the form of water trucks, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, transgenic corn, and medications sold by the same companies manufacturing these agricultural chemicals to overcome both short and long-term disaster events in a district where, according to the local health center, they have witnessed an adult cancer rate of over 20% across six communities (Escamilla Acosta). This alarming feedback loop threatens total collapse not only of an ecosystem and rural society, but also the essence of fading indigenous \u00d1\u00e4h\u00f1u (Otomi) practices already damaged by the politics of colonization (Lorenzo Guillermo et al.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 63 million cubic liters of water once spread across 700 hectares of what are now, after only 4 years, grazing lands and cultivated fields. Lake Metztitl\u00e1n, located in the Reserva de la Biosfera Barranca de Metztitl\u00e1n, is easily seen via satellite data on google maps. However, it has been completely dry since the beginning of the 2020 pandemic (Raziel). Water in Mexico is constitutionally recognized as a public good and human right, but many rural communities face additional economic disparities and physical barriers in accessing such benefits. Insufficient economic resources and political coordination prevent many municipalities from monitoring household water use long-term, instituting instead a process of each resident paying a flat rate regardless of their consumption (Pacheco\u2010Trevi\u00f1o and Manzano\u2010Camarillo). Days and occasional weeks of suspended water services are becoming a new reality, causing robust water-tankers to drive through the town and sell to those who can afford to pay. For most who can\u2019t, single-use plastics \u2013 that are often burned in backyards and on riverbanks afterwards \u2013 are used in place of washable dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Nonetheless, the vast majority of water usage in the valley is due to industrial agriculture, with private wells often being granted permits by the federal water commission despite the absence of a regional water study in over two decades (Pacheco\u2010Trevi\u00f1o and Manzano\u2010Camarillo). Free-market pressures to produce and consume have replaced \u00d1\u00e4h\u00f1u techniques of milpa <\/em>and rotational production that were innovated by small-scale campesino<\/em> farmers. Seasonal rest and the conservation of resources have been gentrified by NAFTA-legacy1 neoliberalism in favor of a transition towards chemical additives sold by big enterprises. Biodiversity loss spans the extinction of the aquatic bird Achiquiliche<\/em> to overexploitation as well as the transition away from native maize varieties to monoculture. These physical phenomenons mirror the gradual out-migration and extinction of \u00d1\u00e4h\u00f1u lifeways that existed for over 500 years throughout the Mezquital Valley (Enkerlin Hoeflich et al.) (Robson and Berkes). Meanwhile, unseen biodiversity loss such as soil microorganisms only increases the incidence of chemical fertilizer dependency in agricultural production while reducing crop resilience to drought and disease (Edwards et al.) (Lau and Lennon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With over 140 fishermen across Metztitl\u00e1n who cannot fish, and many more farmers who cannot irrigate their crops, the socioeconomic cost of this ecological emergency encompasses the importation of processed foods, rising fresh food prices, water privatization, and magnified contamination, all contributing to a growing public health crisis (Raziel). The empty lake and riverbeds carry hundreds of discarded pesticide containers that cannot be taken to the nearby landfill, still holding agrochemical concentrations known to be harmful to biological systems (including humans). Indirect conflict has arisen after municipal authorities began to pay the fishermen to collect the containers in response to their involuntary unemployment. However, since there is no equivalent program for temporarily unemployed farmers due to water shortages, they dispose of their waste directly into the river with the belief that the fishermen will eventually clean it up, therefore earning every peso of their social benefits that the farmers themselves cannot receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite such critical circumstances, social resilience has emerged among the daily practices of local women. Both the majority of low-paid day-laborers tending the fields, as well as Tenango[2]<\/a> embroiderers, Mexican and Indigenous women are the direct interface of human-nature relationships throughout the rural towns of Metztitl\u00e1n (Enkerlin Hoeflich et al.) (Lorenzo-Monterrubio et al.). Currently, gender stratification and traditional social structures are being challenged by female-majority rural populations, as men seek work in cities and beyond the US-Mexico border. Marginalized women are now assuming positions of political and social power in tandem with their indirect efforts conserving and protecting both their culture and their natural environment.Beyond the rise of Tenango craftsmanship in recent decades, women are keepers of culinary traditions that dictate community diets and therefore the diversity of crops grown to maintain centuries of food system sovereignty. Bodegas are filled with corn grown in the valley, which women begin processing as the first step in creating masa by drying and diligently selecting husks destined for the preparation of tamales \u2013 all practicing a circular routine traceable to 5,000 B.C. alongside the first domesticated cultivations of maize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tenango embroidery specifically continues to receive international attention, whose origins are found in the \u00d1\u00e4h\u00f1u communities still residing throughout the state of Hidalgo. Traditional designs draw inspiration from the natural world, always from the artisans\u2019 immediate environment, to create their vivid patterns. Diligent and mindful observations of flora and fauna are the basis of the intricate tapestries that are documenting both the rich biodiversity of the region and the \u00d1\u00e4h\u00f1u way of life (Lorenzo-Monterrubio et al.). However, although adaptation is occurring, the necessary transition in response to the ongoing ecological crisis is not happening at the rate of change. Despite the rise of grassroots resilience, many more will experience displacement, as others continue to look to the federal government \u2013 and more desperately to a divine higher power \u2013 to bring back what once abounded for the original people of this valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a>  NAFTA \u2013 The North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994 resulted in over 1.3 million rural Mexican farmers losing their jobs due to subsidized American goods \u2013 such as transgenic corn \u2013 flooding the Mexican market (White et al.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Tenango is a distinct embroidery style started by the \u00d1\u00e4h\u00f1u community residing in the municipality of Tenango de Doria in Hidalgo, Mexico. Started in the 1960s in response to an economic crisis, designs typically depict colorful, geometric versions of flora and fauna native to the region (Lorenzo-Monterrubio, Carmen, et al.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Outdoor<\/figure>
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About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lily Zander<\/strong> (she\/her) is a Peace Corps volunteer in Mexico working under the Climate Change Action and Awareness program with the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP). Now a year into the program, Lily is focusing on projects addressing solid waste management, sustainable agriculture practices, and nature appreciation through a youth and gender lens within the Reserva de la Biosfera Barranca de Metztitl\u00e1n. She received her B.S in Environmental Science and B.A in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2021, and worked as a sustainable agriculture fellow for the Mississippi River Network and National Caucus of Environmental Legislators before joining the Peace Corps.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Works Cited<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Edwards, Joseph, et al. \u201cStructure, variation, and assembly of the root-associated microbiomes of rice.\u201d Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em>, vol. 112, no. 8, 20 Jan. 2015, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1414592112<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enkerlin Hoeflich, Ernesto, et al. Programa de Manejo: Reserva de La Biosfera Barranca de Metztitl\u00e1n<\/em>. 1st ed., Comisi\u00f3n Nacional de \u00c1reas Naturales Protegidas, 2003, https:\/\/www.conanp.gob.mx\/que_hacemos\/pdf\/programas_manejo\/metztitlan.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Escamilla Acosta, Marco Antonio. \u201cExhorto Referencia a C\u00e1ncer.\u201d Secretar\u00eda de Salud de Hidalgo, 14 Aug. 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanson, Craig, et al. Aqueduct<\/em>, World Resources Institute, 3 Nov. 2021, www.wri.org\/aqueduct<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lau, Jennifer A., and Jay T. Lennon. \u201cRapid responses of soil microorganisms improve plant fitness in novel environments.\u201d Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em>, vol. 109, no. 35, 13 Aug. 2012, pp. 14058\u201314062, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1202319109<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le\u00f3n Villalobos, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda, et al. \u201cMapping from spatial meaning: Bridging H\u00f1ah\u00f1u (Otomi) ecological knowledge and geo-information tools.\u201d Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine<\/em>, vol. 15, no. 1, 11 Oct. 2019, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s13002-019-0329-9<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lorenzo Guillermo, Jos\u00e9, et al. \u201cLand-use change in the Sierra Alta of Hidalgo in the period 1976-2011.\u201d Revista de Geograf\u00eda Agr\u00edcola<\/em>, no. 63, 26 Nov. 2019, pp. 63\u201385, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5154\/r.rga.2018.63.01<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lorenzo-Monterrubio, Carmen, et al. \u201cHistoria y significado de los Tenangos.\u201d MAGOTZI<\/em>, vol. 7, no. 13, 2019. 19-25<\/em>, https:\/\/doi.org\/ https:\/\/doi.org\/10.29057\/ia.v7i13<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pacheco\u2010Trevi\u00f1o, Silvana, and Mario Guadalupe Manzano\u2010Camarillo. \u201cReview of water scarcity assessments: Highlights of Mexico\u2019s water situation.\u201d WIREs Water<\/em>, vol. 11, no. 4, 18 Feb. 2024, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/wat2.1721<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raziel, Zedryk. \u201cLa Muerte de Una Laguna En Hidalgo Muestra El Azote de La Sobreexplotaci\u00f3n y La Crisis Clim\u00e1tica.\u201d El Pa\u00eds M\u00e9xico<\/em>, 14 May 2023, https:\/\/elpais.com\/mexico\/2023-05-14\/la-muerte-de-una-laguna-en-hidalgo-muestra-el-azote-de-la-sobreexplotacion-y-la-crisis-climatica.html<\/a>. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robson, James P., and Fikret Berkes. \u201cExploring some of the myths of land use change: Can rural to urban migration drive declines in biodiversity?\u201d Global Environmental Change<\/em>, vol. 21, no. 3, Aug. 2011, pp. 844\u2013854, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.gloenvcha.2011.04.009<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wagner, James, et al. \u201cMexico City Has Long Thirsted for Water. The Crisis Is Worsening.\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, The New York Times, 18 May 2024, www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/18\/world\/americas\/mexico-city-water.html<\/a>.  Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White, Marceline, et al. \u201cNAFTA and the FTAA: A Gender Analysis of Employment and Poverty Impacts in Agriculture.\u201d Women\u2019s Edge Coalition<\/em>, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Nov. 2003, www.iatp.org\/sites\/default\/files\/NAFTA_and_the_FTAA_A_Gender_Analysis_of_Employ.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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care<\/a>, <\/span>climate change<\/a>, <\/span>Mexico<\/a>, <\/span>textiles<\/a>, <\/span>water<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lily Zander The negative synergies of emerging environmental crises and the effects of climate change after nearly a century of prioritizing neoliberal, free-market systems have been discussed and studied at length. Disproportionate Global North carbon emissions are provoking extreme heat waves, shorter rainy seasons, and intense tropical storms throughout the country of Mexico. The combined …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3819,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uw_seo_meta_title":"","_uw_seo_meta_description":"","_uw_seo_twitter_card_type":"summary_large_image","_uw_seo_meta_image":"","_uw_seo_meta_image_url":"","_uw_seo_meta_image_sizes":[],"_uw_seo_custom_meta_tags":[],"uw_external_link":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10,13,17,18,16],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-3-fall-winter-2024","tag-care","tag-climate-change","tag-mexico","tag-textiles","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3819"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":848,"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions\/848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lacisreview.lacis.wisc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}