Lerma–Santiago Basin Discharge and Environmental Flows
International Water Management Institute — Google-funded Mexico ProjectResearch Consultant, Hydrological ModellingJanuary – June 2026
Funding Google-funded
Naturalised and reservoir-regulated discharge simulation for Mexico’s Lerma–Santiago Basin, producing the environmental-flow indicators behind a national e-flow dashboard.
The Lerma–Santiago is one of Mexico’s most heavily managed basins, which makes the gap between what the river would do and what the river is allowed to do the central analytical object. The study addresses that gap directly by simulating both conditions and reading the difference.
mizuRoute was used to produce naturalised discharge across the basin network, establishing the counterfactual hydrology. mizuLake was then run to represent reservoir-regulated discharge, reproducing managed flow conditions under the basin’s storage and release regime.
A multi-product discharge comparison and deviation analysis followed, testing the simulations against alternative discharge products so that the uncertainty band travels with the result. The outputs were then reduced to environmental-flow indicators formatted for the Mexico e-flow dashboard, where they support allocation decisions rather than sitting in a model archive.
