Luis Eduardo Padilla-Tovar

The Santiago–Guadalajara River Basin has an area of 10,016.46 km². The Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, within the basin, is the second-largest city in the country, with more than 5 million inhabitants. The growth of the urban population, as well as industrial and agricultural activities with insufficient infrastructure for the sanitation of wastewater and its reuse, have caused environmental deterioration of surface waters and gradual depletion of groundwater resources. To assess the level of contamination in surface waters from the presence of heavy metals in the basin, a monthly monitoring campaign was carried out at 25 sampling stations located in the main and tributary streams from July 2021 to April 2022. The following decreasing sequence was found according to the mean concentration values: Fe > Al > Mn > B > Ba > Zn > As > Cu > Cr > Ni > Pb > Cd. The Heavy Metal Pollution Index (HPI) method was applied to assess the level of risk to aquatic life, finding an average global HPI value of 305.522 for the basin, which classifies it as in the critical contamination range. The results also reflect health risks due to the presence of As, Cd, and Ni in some monitored stations. It will be necessary to expand the monitoring network, identify the point and non-point sources of contamination, and implement measures for pollution control to protect aquatic life and human health due to the presence of heavy metals in the river.

The Santiago-Guadalajara River Basin (SGRB), located in western Mexico, is one of the most polluted rivers in the country. A pesticide monitoring program was carried out from January 2022 to September 2022, during which time water samples collected at 25 sites in the main stem and tributaries revealed the presence of 13 of the 24 pesticides analyzed, including α-BHC, β-BHC, γ-BHC (Lindane), γ-Chlordane, Hexachlorobenzene, Heptachlor, Aldrin, α-Endosulfan, DDT, -4,4, Methoxychlor, Chlorpyrifos-methyl, Endosulfan sulfate, and Dicofol. A high level of correlation was found between the identified pesticides, which could mean that several of these pesticides reached a stable level within the monitored water bodies. Most of the identified pesticides are classified as high environmental risk according to the Stockholm Convention because of their persistence and high degree of toxicity to the environment and human health. A Pesticide Toxicity Index (PTI) was applied to identify the streams considered to be of concern due to the presence of pesticides exceeding the threshold limits established by national and international guidelines. Performing a calculation for the entire Santiago-Guadalajara River Basin, the PTI reached a value of 0.833, which, according to the criteria of this method, classifies it as a “Moderate” level of risk for aquatic life. Increased regulatory and surveillance measures by state and federal authorities are required to prevent the use of these pesticides, which have been restricted globally.