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Calzada del Agua is a feasibility study that shows how circular rainwater management can turn a public square in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico, into a resilient local water source.
Facts
- Project type PfW Subsidy Project (feasibility study)
- Countries Mexico
- Partners Beccan Davila + Puentes, Field Factors, Centro
- Themes Water security, urban resilience, circular rainwater management
- Duration 2023
- SDGs SDG 6, SDG 11, SDG 13
Water challenges in Mexico
Mexico faces significant, and often overlapping, water challenges: shortages, urban flooding caused by heavy rainfall, pollution, and overexploitation of aquifers. These pressures are especially visible in fast-growing Mexican cities, where paved surfaces increase stormwater runoff, rain is largely lost rather than reused, and groundwater reserves are steadily being depleted.
Calzada del Agua looks at this challenge through a real, tangible case: a stretch of the 2019 Master Plan for Calzada de la República in Oaxaca de Juárez. The project centres on Plaza Yucatán, a public square close to the Mercado de la Merced public market, selected as a pilot site where rainwater could be collected, purified, stored and reused rather than left to contribute to flooding and water loss.
The objectives
Calzada del Agua aims to show that a circular approach to rainwater can tackle water scarcity, flooding and pollution in Mexican cities at the same time, by capturing rainwater at a public square and putting it to productive local use. The project tests the technical, social, economic and urban feasibility of this approach in Oaxaca de Juárez, using Plaza Yucatán as the pilot site and the neighbouring Mercado de la Merced market as the end-user of the recovered water. The findings are meant to support the Municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, and potentially other Mexican municipalities facing similar water challenges, in scaling up circular solutions.
The approach
To make the water challenge tangible, the consortium grounded its feasibility study in a real location: a stretch of the 2019 Master Plan for Calzada de la República in Oaxaca de Juárez. Using an urban toolkit developed to identify suitable spaces for water-resilience measures, the team selected Plaza Yucatán as the pilot site and the nearby Mercado de la Merced market as the destination for the recovered water. The proposed solution applies Bluebloqs technology, from consortium partner Field Factors, which collects, purifies, stores and recovers rainwater in a closed loop, supplying the market while recharging the local aquifer, combining technical, social, economic and urban analysis.
If you don’t engage with the local authorities from day one, you won’t make any progress.
The team
The Calzada del Agua consortium brings together the expertise of three partners:
- Beccan Davila + Puentes led the feasibility study and developed the urban toolkit used to select and design the pilot location.
- Field Factors contributed its Bluebloqs technology for the circular collection, purification, storage and reuse of rainwater.
- Centro (Centro SC), the project’s Mexican partner, contributed local knowledge of the social, urban and economic context in Oaxaca de Juárez, and managed the regulatory context and relevant stakeholders.
The study was carried out with co-financing from the “Innovations for Water Safety and Water Security” (IVWW) programme of Partners for Water 2022–2027, with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez as clients.
Expected outcomes
The anticipated outcomes of this project include:
- A feasibility study demonstrating that circular rainwater management can work on a public square in a Mexican city
- A pilot design combining Bluebloqs technology with the redevelopment of Plaza Yucatán in Oaxaca de Juárez
- An urban toolkit for identifying suitable locations for water-resilience measures in Mexican cities
- Insight into the technical, social, economic and urban conditions needed to scale up circular rainwater solutions
- A basis for further implementation in Oaxaca de Juárez and replication in other Mexican cities
Why it matters
If implemented, Calzada del Agua’s approach could help Mexican cities turn everyday public spaces into local sources of water resilience — reducing flooding, easing pressure on aquifers, and supplying facilities such as markets with recovered rainwater, offering a replicable model for cities facing similar water challenges.
Innovation in Progress series
Calzada del Agua features in Partners for Water’s ongoing Innovation in Progress series. Throughout this series, Partners for Water closely follows a selection of projects that have received a Partners for Water subsidy, from start to finish. Over the coming years, these projects will take you with them on their journey of testing the feasibility or application of innovative solutions to enhance water security abroad — including their processes, collaborations with local partners, potential solutions, and the struggles, challenges and lessons learned along the way.
Get involved
This project was funded through the Partners for Water subsidy scheme. Discover more ways to get involved with Partners for Water
Let’s co-create
Partners for Water is a Dutch government programme enhancing water security internationally in long-term cooperation with local partners and the Dutch water sector. By facilitating strategic planning and support in the early stages of innovation, the programme aims to contribute to systemic change for sustainable water management and infrastructure. This is how we initiate impactful changes for a better living environment.
