Mexico's Cabo San Lucas looking to stop using aquifer water

The Mexican tourist resort area of Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of the arid Baja California peninsula, is being forced to restructure its water supply to protect the local aquifer.  

A decree was published on February 24 that seeks to regulate water extraction and discharges in the San José del Cabo aquifer, which is currently used to supply the entire area in Baja California Sur state, which has plentiful hotels and tourist infrastructure.  

The move to regulate water feeding into and out of the aquifer was necessary to avoid a water crisis, Luis Martínez Verduzco, chairman of the state union of water users in the basin, part of national water authority Conagua, was cited as saying by local paper El Mundo de BCS. 

Two projects are already underway to wean Cabo San Lucas off the aquifer: construction of a desalination plant and a new reservoir, in addition to improvement of the local water distribution system.