Mexico's main environmental issues include: - scarcity of
hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; -
scarce and polluted fresh water resources in the northern parts
of the country: - inaccessible and poor water quality in central
regions and extreme southeast regions; - raw sewage and
industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; -
widespread erosion; - deteriorating agricultural lands; -
serious air and water pollution in the national capital and
urban centers along US-Mexico border; and, - land subsidence in
Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater overdrafting. The Mexican
government considers both the lack of clean water and
deforestation to be national security issues. The site of
advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish
rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in
the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw
Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in
over half a century. The global financial crisis