Cutzamala System AU
Philip L. Chaney, PhD, PS
Department of Geosciences
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
pchaney@auburn.edu
Creative Commons License (CC-BY): This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
How to cite this work: Chaney, P.L. 2021. Cutzamala System AU. [Google Earth File]. The IBT Water Project.
Last Updated: 07 November 2020; 26 March 2021
References
CONAGUA 2005. Systema Cutzamala: Agua Para Milliones de Mexicanos. Mexico. Last Accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
CONAGUA, World Bank, 2015. Cutzamala Diagnostico Integral: Diagnostico para el manejo integral de las sbcuencas Tuxpan, El Bosque, Ixtapan del Oro, Valle de Bravo, Colorines-Chilesdo y Villa Victori pertencientes al Sustema Cutzamala (Parte 1). Washington D.C. Last Accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
CONAGUA, World Bank, 2015. Cutzamala Diagnostico Integral: Diagnostico para el manejo integral de las sbcuencas Tuxpan, El Bosque, Ixtapan del Oro, Valle de Bravo, Colorines-Chilesdo y Villa Victori pertencientes al Sustema Cutzamala (Parte 2). Washington D.C. Last Accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
CONAGUA, World Bank 2015. A shared vison of the Cutzamala System: A model basin in water management. Mexico. Last Accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
CONAGUA No Date. Proyecto ejectivo de la 3ra Linea de Conduccion de la Torre de Oscilacion No. 5 al Portal de entrada del Tunel Analco-San Jose. Last Accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
jesselibra. 2018. The Cutzamala System. [Web Mapping Application]. ArcGIS.com. Created: Dec 11, 2017. Updated: Jan 2, 2018. Last Accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
Lankao, P.R. 2010. Water in Mexico City: what will climate change bring to its history of water-related hazards and vulnerabilities? Environment and Urbanization 22(1): 157-178.
Rhoda, R. and T. Burton. 2013. Where does Mexico City get its water? Geo-Mexico, the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico. ISSN 1927-1549. https://geo-mexico.com/?p=9043. Last Accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
Tortajada, C. and E. Castelan. 2003. Water management for a megacity: Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Ambio 32(2): 124-129.
Tortajada, Cecilia. 2006. Who Has Access to Water? Case Study of Mexico City Metropolitan Area. UNDP Human Development Report Office, Occasional Paper 2006/16.
Tortajada, C. 2006. Water management in Mexico City Metropolitan Area. In Water management in megacities. C. Tortajada, O. Varis, J. Lundquist, and A.K. Biswas, eds. Routledge, New York.
Tortajada, C. 2013. Water management in Mexico City Metropolitan Area. In Water management in megacities. C. Tortajada, O. Varis, J. Lundquist, and A.K. Biswas. Routledge, New York.
Wikipedia Contributors. 2020. Water management in Greater Mexico City. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last edited: 29 June 2020. Last accessed: 13 Aug 2020.
Personal Communications
Special Thanks to Fred Barker, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (Retired). Fred guided multi-day field trips of the L.A. Aqueduct for 15 years during his service as an engineer with LADWP.
Request for Assistance: Missing and conflicting information is an ongoing challenge in this project. Although significant effort has been made to map the IBTs main route and key features, some important details may have been missed. We apologize in advance for any errors and request your assistance in making necessary revisions.

Cutzamala Routes

Main Route
The man-made canal/pipeline/tunnel portion of the Cutzamala System aqueduct begins at the Tuxpan Reservoir and ends at the terminus point near the Fuente de Tlaloc Fountain in Mexico City. The final segment of the route, from the exit portal of the Analco-San Jose Tunnel to the Terminus, appears to include part of the pre-existing Lerma System Aqueduct.

Ixtapan Del Oro Canal

Valle de Bravo Outlet

Chilesdo Pipeline

Villa Victoria Canal

Pumping Plants

Pumping Plant 1

Pumping Plant 2

Pumping Plant 3

Submergence and Oscillation Towers
The Cutzamala System includes 6 oscillation towers and 5 submergence towers (10 m inside diameter, 20 to 55 m in height) to control inflow and outflow at pumping plants (Source: Conagua 2).
NOTE: A submergence (immersion) tower "provides the load and amount of water the equipment needs to start, and the oscillation tower "reduces water hammer in the steel pipe and minimizes it in the rest of the pipeline. These towers are cylindrical reinforced concrete structures that required continuous casting. Its height fluctuates between 32 and 51 m, with diameters of 10 m; the thickness of the walls reaches 1.60
meters. "(Source: Conagua 3)
NOTE: The treated water storage tank at the Los Berros Water Treatment Plant acts as a submergence tank for Pumping Plant 5 (Source: Conagua 2), but is not counted as an official submergence tower.
NOTE: Oscillation Structure at PP 6: "Unlike the other pumping plants, whose oscillation towers are vertical and circular vessels of great diameter and height, for Pumping Plant Number 6 the natural conditions of the land were used and, as an oscillation chamber, it was derived a prestressed concrete pipe 2.50 m in diameter and 270 meters long, supporting it on the slopes of the Aledano hill until reaching the required height. (Source: Conagua 3; pg 27)
NOTE: Submergence towers keep the intake side of a pumping plant submerged at all times -- pumps work best when under positive suction pressure (i.e, head). Oscillation towers on the discharge, or outflow, side of a pumping plant act as a "surge chamber" and allow for the leveling out of pressure on the discharge side of the pump (Fred Barker, LA Power and Water Dept., personal communication, 18 June 2019). These towers are also known as surge tanks or surge chambers in other IBT systems.

Submergence Tower

Oscillation Tower

Sumergence Tower

Oscillation Tower 5

Oscillation Structure at PP 6
"Unlike the other pumping plants, whose oscillation towers are vertical and circular vessels of great diameter and height, for Pumping Plant Number 6 the natural conditions of the land were used and, as an oscillation chamber, it was derived a prestressed concrete pipe 2.50 m in diameter and 270 meters long, supporting it on the slopes of the Aledano hill until reaching the required height.
(Source: Conagua 3; pg 27)

Rivers

Tuxpan River
Rio Tuxpan/Rio Taximaroa/Rio Pucuato

Sabaneto Reservoir Outflow

Mata de Pino Reservoir Outflow

Dams

Pucuato Dam

Agostitlan Dam

Sabaneta Dam

Tuxpan Dam

El Bosque Dam

Ixtapan del Oro Dam

Colorines Dam

Valle de Bravo Dam

Chilesdo Dam

Villa Victoria Dam

Donato Guerra Dam

Reservoirs

Pucuato Reservoir

Sabaneta Reservoir

Mata de Pino Reservoir

Tuxpan Reservoir

El Bosque Reservoir

Colorines Reservoir

Lake Avandaro Reservoir

Donato Guerra Reservoir

Chilesdo Reservoir

Villa Victoria Reservoir

Los Berros Water Treatment Plant

Cutzamala System HQ
Headquarters/center of operations for the Cutzamala System.

Los Berros Water Treatment Plant
It is unclear where the Main Route, Chilesdo Pipeline, and Villa Victoria Canal enter the Treatment Plant, so this marker is a symbolic representation of the water from these input lines converging at a central point for processing before entering the Treated Water Storage Tank.

Treated Water Storage Tank
The 50,000 m3 tank of treated water acts as a submergence tank for Pumping Plant 5 (Conagua ...Part 2 and 3).

Water Storage Tanks

Santa Isabel Storage Tank

Los Pericos Storage Tanks

Water Distribution Lines

Ixtapantongo Hydroelectric Power Plant

El Durazno Hydroelectric Power Plant

City of Toluca

Analco-San Jose Tunnel

Analco-San Jose Tunnel Entrance Portal
The tunnel was consturcted in ____ and was reported to run parrallel to the Atarasquilla-Dos Rios Tunnel, which was constucted in ___ as part of the Lerma Water Transfer System, which transported groundwater from the vicinity of the city of Lerma on the Lerma River.
The length of the tunel is reported to be either 14 km (), 15 km, (), or 16 km(). The location of the exit portal is unknown at this point so the distance cannot be confirmed until further information is available. The true location of the route from the exit portal to the end of the Cutzamala System is also unkown until further information is available.
*Any assistance on resolving these issues would be greatly appreciated.

Analco-San Jose Tunnel Exit Portal (Unconfirmed)
This point is approximately 13.8 km from the Tunnel Entrance.
This site is identified on Google Maps as the beginning of the second half of the Lerma Aqueduct (Acueducto Lerma) route into Mexico City.

Cutzamala Terminus

Fuente de Tlaloc Fountain
Water fountain by famous artist Diego Rivera

Cutzamala System Terminus
This point marks the end of the main route of the Cutzamala System where the water is stored in the four holding tanks at this site. The tanks (100m in dimater, 10 m in depth), were constructed in the 1940s as part of the Lerma Valley project (Water Management in Major Cities by C. Tortada, et. al 2013).
Title Water Management in Megacities
Routledge Special Issues on Water Policy and Governance
Editors Cecilia Tortajada, Olli Varis, Asit K. Biswas, Jan Lundqvist
Publisher Routledge, 2013
Length 256 pages
NOTE: Water distibution lines run to the North and South of the city from this point, but are not shown at present.

Lerma Aqueduct

Lerma Aqueduct
Acueducto Lerma in Google Maps. Visible route with labels begin at what appears to be the eastern (exit) end of Analco-San Jose Tunnel and runs approximately 3.4 miles eastward stopping just short of Highway 57D.

Terminus Holding Tank

Misc Features

Start of Cutzamala Canal/Pipeline

Valle de Bravo Intake Tower

Donato Guerra Canal Entrance

Hidden Tunnel Entrance Portal

Hidden Tunnel Exit Portal