New Risk Assessments Due to Climate Change in Metropolitan Peripheral Areas. The Water Shortage Case in the Region IV of the State of México

A National Risk Assessment is a policy tool encouraged by the OECD since the 2010’s decade to identify and analyse a range of events that can cause a shock in a country and to have adequate preparedness and response measures. As disaster risks are an always-changing phenomenon, especially since the climate change emergency has been acknowledged, it requires systematic monitoring and analysis to adapt the risk management policies to the changing situation. The paper adjusts the National Risk Assessment into a micro-regional scale to present the case of the water shortage emergency due to climate change in a peripherical urban area of Mexico City. In the paper, it is explained why it should be included as a Risk Assessment by local and regional authorities with the objective to create more resilient peripherical urban territories. Eventually, the research can serve as a base to create a National Risk Assessment for water shortage in metropolitan areas on a national scale. The paper presents the current situation of the water shortage in the case study, explains why it should be considered a risk, and analyses water shortage in urban areas within the Risk Assessment rationale, using the Region IV of the State of Mexico as the case study.