A consequence of Guadalajara’s hydraulic infrastructure crisis is the escalation in the number of sinkholes reported each year.
According to data included in an article penned this week by Agustin del Castillo in El Diario (NTR) newspaper, there have been 27,400 incidents of sinkholes reported since 2015, 77 percent of them considered “serious.” The information was retrieved after a transparency request filed by NTR, del Castillo explained. The author quoted an expert who said the problem is chiefly caused by leakages due to the age of the hydraulic network that distributes potable water and conducts household wastes and rainwater. This week, the metro-area intermunicipal water utility SIAPA said that one-fifth of the underground tubing in Guadalajara, Zapopan, Tonala and Tlaquepaque is obsolete and needs replacing, noting that 75 percent is between 30 and 80 years old. The scale of the problem, however, is too enormous to contemplate, since one recent estimate for updating the of the city’s underground hydraulic infrastructure came to $US12 billion.