CDMX Finishes 12 Storm Tanks Under Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza
Mexico City finished 12 underground storm tanks on Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza in Iztapalapa. See what was built, what it cost and where tanks go next.
Mexico City has finished building 12 underground storm tanks beneath Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza in Iztapalapa, a stretch of road with a long record of flooding. The tanks can hold more than 7 thousand cubic meters of rainwater, and the city’s water chief says they should stop the floods that have hit the area for years.
José Mario Esparza, head of Segiagua (Mexico City’s Secretariat for Integrated Water Management), gave the figures while appearing before lawmakers of the Mexico City Congress, El Universal reported. He said this year’s spending on the finished works topped 148 million pesos.
What was built on Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza
The 12 tanks were built one after another along the avenue. From the street, drivers and pedestrians only see a surface of hydraulic concrete. The storage sits below it and holds runoff during heavy rain so it does not pool on the road.
Esparza told legislators the work is complete. He linked the Zaragoza project to works finished last year in the pueblo of Santa Úrsula, near Estadio Azteca, where the city opened a Jardín de Lluvia (rain garden) and also built storm tanks.
How much rainwater the city can now store
Counting both sites, Esparza said the city’s underground rainwater capture systems now hold 23 thousand cubic meters. On that basis he called Mexico City “number one in Mexico” for this kind of system, according to El Universal. The newspaper did not say how other cities compare or who measured them.
What it means for Iztapalapa residents and drivers
Flooding has historically affected the area around Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza. Esparza said the 12 tanks guarantee that those floods will no longer happen there.
For people who live along the avenue or drive it, the city is saying this stretch is now covered. Residents of Santa Úrsula, near Estadio Azteca, have had the rain garden and tanks since last year.
Next storm tanks planned for Utopía Santa Martha
Asked by lawmakers about other projects, Esparza said the city plans more storm tanks next year at the Deportivo Santa Martha sports complex in Iztapalapa. They will go underground, beneath the sports courts of the Utopía planned for that site.
Segiagua is working on this project with Sobse (Mexico City’s Secretariat of Works and Services). Esparza said Utopías will include works to reduce flooding, regulate runoff or help rainwater soak into the ground. He did not give a cost, a capacity or a start date for the Santa Martha tanks.
Source: El Universal
