A month-long wastewater sampling project was conducted along the northeast periphery of Mexico City, specifically in the state of Hidalgo, to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2. To determine the prevalence of infection and obtain a range of COVID-19 cases in the main metropolitan zones. Viral RNA residues (0–197,655 copies/L) were measured in wastewater from the five central municipalities in the state. By recording the number of RNA viral copies per liter, micro-basins delimitation, demographic and physiological data, an interval of infected people and virus prevalence was estimated using a Monte Carlo model (with 90% confidence) in the micro-basin of five municipalities with metropolitan influence or industrial activity. Our procedure determined that the percentage of the infected population ranges from 1.4% to 41.7%, while the official data reports 0.1–0.3%. This model is proposed as a helpful method of regional epidemiological monitoring through the analysis of viral prevalence.

The novel COVID-19, detected in Wuhan, China, has reached almost every city across the globe, and researchers from many countries have used several epidemiologic models to describe the epidemic trends. In this context, it is also important to know the geographic extent of the infected population. Following this approach, a Gumpertz model was adapted with official data from the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, in order to estimate the people infected during this COVID-19 pandemic. We found, based on the adjusted data, the highest value in infected people according to official and theoretical data. Furthermore, using a geographical analysis based on geostatistical measures related to density of demographic and economic data, traffic level and geolocation, raster files were generated to estimate probability of coronavirus cases occurrence using the areas where the contagion may occur. We also distributed the maximum contagion obtained by the epidemic model, using these raster files, and a regression model to weight factors according their importance. Based on this estimated distribution, we found that most of the infected people were located in the southern border, a trend related to the economic strip in the southern part of Hidalgo State, associated with its vicinity to the Megacity of Mexico.

Megacities boost peri-urban socioeconomic development but fulfill their high natural resource demands by overexploitation, yielding irreversible environmental damage in surroundings that turn into sacrifice zones. This study reports the effects on the Cuautitlán-Pachuca Valley, the Mexico City main expansion zone at the northeast of the metropolitan area on the Central Mexico plateau, the trend scenarios from 2020 to 2050, and the actions to mitigate the growing water demand that will worsen its aquifer overexploitation. We designed a conceptual archetype to apply the Water Evaluation and Planning System (W.E.A.P.) mathematical model calibrated with 2013–2014 data to calculate groundwater volume demand in future scenarios. The demand output for the international airport and agriculture was less than 5%. The local climate change effect up to 2050 will slightly reduce the infiltration. The most crucial water demand increase (195% in 2050) is due to the population and industrial growth of the Mexico City northern municipalities (89% of the total groundwater extraction volume), and the aquifer will have a notable −2192.3 hm³ accumulated deficit in 2050, while urban sprawl will decrease water infiltration by 2.3%. Mitigation scenarios such as rainwater harvesting may reduce the urban water supply only by 9%, and a leak cutback will do so by 24%, which is still insufficient to achieve sustainable water management in the future. These outcomes emphasize the need to consider other actions, such as importing water from near aquifers and treating wastewater reuse to meet the future water demand.

La presión social y de las industrias induce la expansión de superficies urbanas de manera rápida y sin planificación. Aunado a ello, las discrepancias en documentos oficiales y la ausencia de herramientas adecuadas de planificación a nivel federal, estatal y municipal dificulta la distribución del uso de suelo y el manejo sustentable de territorios. Las ciudades demandan cada vez más agua y en contraste, disminuyen su infiltración hacia los mantos acuíferos debido a la expansión de la mancha urbana. Por ello es prioritario fomentar el trabajo multidisciplinario en la planeación urbana.

En México se han puesto en marcha programas de reforestación que no logran buenos porcentajes de supervivencia, principalmente por el efecto de la sequía. Para mitigarlo deben generarse tecnologías que ayuden a las plantas a sobrevivir en los primeros años. Considerando lo anterior, el efecto de la adición de reservorios de agua al momento del trasplante se evaluó sobre la supervivencia, altura, diámetro y biomasa de plantas de Pinus leiophylla, bajo condiciones de sequía simulada en invernadero. Las plantas se evaluaron en un diseño experimental completamente al azar con cuatro tratamientos: Testigo, bloque de espuma fenólica de 231 cc, bloque de espuma fenólica de 308 cc e hidrogel hidratado (3 g) con agua potable. El análisis de supervivencia mostró diferencias significativas entre el testigo y el resto de los tratamientos (P = 0.000008). En la variable altura no se presentaron diferencias significativas. Con respecto al diámetro, se encontraron diferencias significativas en las semanas ocho (P = 0.013) y 12 (P = 0.002). La biomasa también fue estadísticamente diferente entre los tratamientos (P = 0.0001). La adición de espuma fenólica de célula abierta hidratada, al momento del trasplante, aumentó significativamente el tiempo de supervivencia y el diámetro de P. leiophylla en condiciones de sequía.