Multidisciplinary approach to support the design of a local policy of payment for hydrological ecosystem services, in a microwatershed located in northern Veracruz, México

Abstract

With the target to understand the complexity involved in the design of PHES policies, this thesis developed a methodology to generate basic information that will be used in the construction of local PHES policy. The methodological proposal was tested in a micro-watershed located in northern Veracruz, México, and consisted in nine steps.Results indicated that biophysical (i.e. geology, hydrology, land use, soil type and weather), socioeconomic (i.e. land use culture, water use culture and population growth), and other factors (i.e. hydraulic infrastructure and land tenure rights) need to be taken into account to design local PHES policies.Socioeconomic data indicated that communities' organization is an activity that needs to be developed prior to the implementation of a PHES policy. Other information revealed that hydraulic infrastructure needs to be modernized with the objective of storing and distributing the fresh water released by the aquifer. In conclusion, the information generated with the multidisciplinary methodology proposed in this research indicated that a PHES policy is one part of the strategy to confront the water supply problem in the rural communities under study.