Environmental evaluation and development problems of the Mexican Coastal Zone

The coastal zone is the main source of foreign currency for Mexico so that federal policies are adjusting to try to improve its conditions. To that end, a large and comprehensive study was financed by the government to assess the state of knowledge of the water quality of coastal waters and the environmental status of the whole coastal area in Mexico. Based on the existing literature found in the most important research institutions of the country, as well as on field visits to 42 coastal cities from 1996 to 1998, and complemented with interviews of more than 80 persons (“key informants”) involved in the different key activities of the sites visited, the main environmental parameters useful to assess water and environmental quality were selected. All the sites where data existed and in particular the 42 main coastal cities were then analyzed according to the different categories of stress to which they are subjected and the degree of damage observed and reported. As a result, an environmental diagnosis of the Mexican coastal zone is outlined, divided by type of activity. The oil and related petrochemical industries as well as the big tourist resorts were identified as the largest contributors to the degradation of the natural ecosystems in the Mexican Coastal Zone.