Objective:

Determine with an empirical study that the use of wastewater received by the agricultural sector of the Mezquital Valley in Hidalgo for more than one hundred years, from the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico without prior treatment, configured the agricultural space in this region not suitable for this activity due to its geographical and climatic conditions.

Methodology:

A review of the literature of the problem of wastewater in combination with quantitative information from different institutions to make and an analysis to the ecological economy discipline that identifies the factors that make it the trigger of important social and environmental problems.

Results:

It was identified that the use of this type of water in the agricultural sector of the region, contains a high pollutant load composed of organic material, some metals, bacteria and detergents, which allowed the development of the sector together with severe public health problems and soil degradation.

Limitations:

Lack of recent studies that document the implications on the health of the population and ecosystems of the region.

Conclusions:

The reconfiguration of spaces to determine regions does not necessarily imply social and environmental benefit in some cases it implies the detriment of the quality of life and degradation of the ecosystems. However, for part of the population of the region the use of this water has allowed them to leave the conditions of marginality in which they lived.