Water management and the development of environmental indicators in Mexico and Canada: a comparative analysis

One major barrier in the effective implementation of integrated urban water is the missing operable indicators or criteria for indicating implementation success. Canada is recognized as a country leader in the development of environmental indicators; thus this study proposes a comparative analysis with the aim of finding proposals for Mexico, as well as identifying limitations in implementation. Based on a combination of documental research and fieldwork the following areas were compared: Problems in water management; the institutional framework of existing environmental indicators; and the use of indicators of water management. From the country and city-level analysis of Mexico City and Montreal we observe a strong difference in water management systems which are reflected in the type of proposed indicators. But in both cases there are very few urban water-related indicators and a lack of coordination and organization of the data that result in poor use by the decision-makers.