Calculation of the water poverty index in the Zona Media of San Luis Potosi

Abstract

The water poverty index assesses the physical and socioeconomic factors related to the availability of the resource; It establishes links between poverty, social marginalization, environmental integrity and health through five components: water resource, access, capa-city, environment and use, assessed on a scale of 0 to 1. This research focused on the Middle Zone of the State of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. This area is the second region with the largest extension of the state and is subdivided in the Middle East and Middle West micro-regions. The micro-regions present significant differences in both water resources and socioeconomic conditions. In the Middle West micro-region, there is the conurbation of the municipalities of Rioverde and Ciudad Fernández, the main population center and economic engine of the area with agricultural activity. In the Middle Zone, groundwater dependence is 52 percent and 48 percent of surface water, and contributes 2.9 percent of State GDP. The water poverty index obtained for the Middle Zone was 55.3 points.