The city of Monterrey, Mexico, has faced extreme water stress in recent years. In 2022, reservoirs were nearly empty and household taps were dry for up to 75 days in some neighbourhoods, reaching crisis levels for many citizens, particularly the poor.

Improved water infrastructure is a necessary part of the solution to this problem, and the state government of Nuevo León is constructing pipelines, wells and dams to increase water supply. But in a changing climate with increasingly unpredictable rainfall, nature-based solutions offer a chance to improve the hydrological cycle to increase water availability for both people and nature.

In November 2022, Terra Habitus A.C., a civil society organization in northern Mexico, announced a partnership with a group of business leaders in Monterrey and the state of Nuevo León, to implement the Santa Catarina River Recovery and Regeneration Project for the City of Monterrey. Together the entities have raised MXN 25 million (USD 1.34 million) to improve the hydrological cycle in the 111,300-ha Santa Catarina River basin. Objectives include increasing water security, recharging natural aquifers, mitigating the risks of catastrophic flooding, and regenerating an urban riparian corridor as a 700-ha metropolitan park to benefit more than 5.3 million citizens.

The project has multiple components, including a comprehensive study of the regional aquifer and its recharge potential, forest management and erosion control throughout the basin, development of a payments for ecosystem services programme, and a GIS application to guide decision-making and monitor progress.

Nature-based solutions will allow the Santa Catarina River Recovery and Regeneration Project to address water security while providing numerous co-benefits, including increased resilience to drought, floods and catastrophic wildfires; improved water quality; habitat provision; and recreational amenities.

For more information about the project or to contact the Terra Habitus team, visit terrahabitus.org.mx.