INTRODUCTION

from RAÍCES DE AGUA - ENGLISH

by The (Future) City Project at EAAD Tec de Monterrey QRO

INMERSIVE PHASES

INTRODUCTION - PART 1

1984 2000 2020

URBANIZATION AND CONTEXT

Santiago Querétaro de Arteaga is located in the southwest area of Querétaro. It is one of the 32 states of Mexico and is located in the center of the country. It is a state that has landscapes that dance with the rhythm of its topography. From the accentuated topography of the Sierra Gorda on the North, to the plains of Queretaro’s city; they are unique landscapes.

During the last 4 decades, Querétaro has been through an accelerated urbanization. In 1984 Querétaro de Arteaga had a population of 739,605 inhabitants. In the left graphs the the urban sprawl can be observed.

In the year 2000, Queretaro had a population of 1,404,300 inhabitants, doubling its size and extending to the North, East and Southwest areas compared to prior years.

From the year 2000 to 2020, this growth continues. In the year 2020, the population exceeded 2,368,400 inhabitants.

THE WATER’S WAY

How does the water pass through Querétaro?

We have two main rivers in the City of Querétaro. One is Querétaro River, which enters the city Northeast through Las Palmas Lake, and leaves Southeast of the city.

Next, we have The Pueblito River, the result of several streams such as: Huimilpan River, Bravo, Hondo, El Zapote and El Plata. The Pueblito Rivercrosses part of the urban sprawl diagonally, going from southeast to northwest.

Both rivers converge near the state’s limit with Guanajuato into the Lerma River.

How has the river been affected with the urban sprawl?

RÍO EL PUEBLITO - MORPHOLOGY

Río el Pueblito forms part of the lower zone of the El Pueblito sub-basin, and is within the El Pueblito-Joaquín Herrera micro-basin. (See page)

The river is located in the southwestern part of the urban area of Querétaro, and its relief consists of low hills and alluvial plains. The terrain consists of medium-moderate slopes of 9.37°. The drainage density is low (ratio between the total length of the basin’s channel and its length).

The drainage network of the micro-basin has 69.48 km., 8.74 km (belonging to the main canal) are perennial (it contains water all the time), while the rest of the network are intermittent canals (it carries water most of the time but mainly in the rainy season).

On the other hand, the origin of the microbasin is volcanic, so the presence of extrusive igneous rocks is present in 73% of the river, located in the lower hills. 27% is made up of materials of colluvial alluvial origin, and it is distributed in the alluvial plain (low areas).

Likewise, the soils are the product of their lithology; there are pelic vertisols (dark and deep soils with large amount of expandable clays which form deep cracks in dry seasons) and haplic pheozems (shallow soils made up of poorly consolidated materials and present a dark color and with a high amount of organic matter).

In the higher zones there is andesite (56% extension) and basalt in the middle zone (77% extension); both belonging to extrusive igneous rocks. Finally, in the low areas there are alluvial materials (recent soils rich in clay (65% extension); belonging to the haplic pheozems.

HYDROLOGIC SYSTEMS

The hydrological cycle is a process in which water changes its physical state and location. All media are part of this water cycle: from the ocean and seas to the mainland and the atmosphere. When there is a change in the state of water, we mean that it can go from a solid to a liquid and gaseous state. It is one of the cycles that keep the earth running, specifically through the transportation, distribution, storage, and purification of water. These are known as ecosystem services and they mean that the amount of water on planet Earth does not vary, but simply allows its circulation.