Drugs Are Poisoning the Water in This Mexican Vacation Destination

I have been diving in

this

area since 2005. What I have seen change in the

water

is that the entire cave system changed its face. It was a cave system that was bright white and a few years ago everything turned black and the reason is related. to human activity it is one of the most instagrammable

destination

s in the world good morning guys, it is our first full day in tulum frequented by glamorous fashion lovers in search of a bohemian paradise, but eco hippies descend on tulum in search of well-being and The jungle waves are

poisoning

the largest in the world. under

water

river system when you flush the toilet it goes directly to the aquifer there are chemical and pharmaceutical compounds and there are some concentrations of traces of cocaine that attract cartels from all over the region now that a new airport is being built, local scientists are working to expose the magnitude of the damage caused by the rapid expansion of tulum in a race to save

this

ecological paradise we depend on having healthy ribs and clear water to continue surviving we go to the cenote called three crosses this is created by the rain please do not make it fall into the Tulum area there are thousands and thousands of cenotes the water falls in the jungle and slowly penetrates the porosity of this material and then reaches the aquifer the aquifer that you can see behind me is very fragile with our fingers we can work and the water penetrates everywhere in the porosity if you put any contaminant in the water it will arrive quite quickly the importance of the aquifer is extreme this is one of the largest reservoirs of drinking water on the entire planet if we lose the water all of humanity is affected this enormous reserve underwater is now under threat tulum which just a decade ago was a small fishing village has been transformed into a luxury

destination

for hipster tourists in the last decade the population has almost doubled and the number of residential developments catering for tourists rich westerners has exploded however the local infrastructure has not grown with it in the hotel zone there is no sewage system the hotels should have their own treatment plants the biggest negative impact on development is the contamination of the aquifer the groundwater system for all these tourist discharges Bathrooms without a septic system Currently only 10 to 15 percent of buildings are connected to the sewer system, which means that most wastewater seeps through porous rocks into rivers submarines that connect with the Caribbean Sea.

Here in Tulum we have the Mesoamerican barrier reef. system, many of our reefs are in critical condition a healthy coral you will be able to see the skeletons the colors can be yellow it can be orange it can be purple what we are going to see is like a carpet of macroalgae on top In the corals during the last 12 years we have seen the Macroalgae cover will double if we do not decrease these microalgae covers Corals may eventually die This algae growth has been exacerbated by an influx of nutrients from wastewater that has overwhelmed local reefs just as the inland aquifer destabilizes local ecosystems where the water runs we are going to see a cenote here and as you can see it is surrounded by mangroves this type of mangroves are typical of the Mexican Caribbean and normally this type of ecosystem helps us treat the water naturally and is connecting the forest the mangroves the pastures marine and the coral reef I think the worst thing we have found here in the Tulum area and in the aquifer comes from the nutrients because in the toilet flush there are many heavy metals there are chemical and pharmaceutical compounds such as naproxen would prevent and there are some trace concentrations of

drugs

like cocaine that all these compounds did not exist years ago tourists jump into the cenote they can swim among all these types of contaminants if we have high concentrations of these bacteria that come from the toilet flush people can have pain tulum was a destination that was not described as a party scene.

We are a small destination and we cannot handle that influx of people. Parties take place anywhere in the jungle and of course there is a lack of sustainability, to say the least. Yes, illegal jungle values ​​advertised as rituals led by shamanic DJs attract partygoers. Police penalty of carson. For organizers, traces of the

drugs

consumed in Tulum end up in the natural water supply center. This is when you have a party, people come who want to sell drugs instead of partying. It affects us a lot in terms of violence. Drug-related crimes have increased. by 783 percent In the last three years, with several reports of violence between rival gangs, we sell drugs to all tourists.

Anything you need. The airport is set to open in 2023 and numerous new properties, hotels and resorts are being planned in anticipation of the future large influx of tourists. Scientists and hoteliers fear these precious ecosystems will collapse unless drastic sustainability practices are urgently implemented. 80 percent of it comes from these tourist activities, so if they don't see our reef, which is healthy, colorful, vibrant and full of fish, people will stop coming here. I think my biggest fear about the development in Tulum is anarchy, not being able to hold anyone accountable and what that means is it could be a wild west situation where there are no consequences or you're not held accountable, you can do whatever.

Whatever you want and the first thing that is going to suffer is the environment without a doubt, I think it is time to take a step back and see how we can offer adequate sustainability. In fact, investing in giving something back to our environment and not disturbing that balance. Don't grow too fast. As a tourist, you must be responsible and ask questions wherever you are. stay on is it connected to the treatment plant or the wastewater being treated because I don't want to be part of the problem? Business owners need to realize that you are not compromised as a successful business if you do the right thing and are responsible because we You are lucky that Tulum is in incredibly high demand and is thriving, so why not do things right?