Water for cities in the Porfiriato. The case of Guadalajara, Mexico

Abstract

The main argument of this paper is that, during the period of Porfirio Diaz´s rule (Porfiriato), was built the modern image of urban water, including changes in technology and consumption patterns, new forms of management and institutional regulation, and a new significance and value of the water. In fact, this was a period of changes in the relationship of society and water, in their socio-cultural, technological, legal and administrative dimensions, among others. The historical analysis is useful to review the changes and continuities of a society at a given time and space. Hence the interest is to study the city of Guadalajara in a period of great change in the relationship with water, which laid the foundation for modernization, urbanization and industrialization of the twentieth century. Also, the introduction of sanitary model of water supply and final waste disposal in the Porfiriato, is the origin of the contemporary crisis of water in the city, which was based on a growing water demand versus a limited availability (local sources). The solution has been the use of water sources increasingly distant (another watersheds), with important environmental and social impacts associated.