2. Materials and methods

2.1 Study area

San Francisco de Campeche is a coastal city with a A(w) climate and an average temperature of 27.1 ºC that can reach 45 ºC. During the rainy season, precipitation may reach 1965.9 mm. The average precipitation used to be about 1043.8 mm/yr. Population is 233 864 with a growth rate of 1.41% (^{INEGI, 2010}). The high population density, together with lowlands, makes the city prone to climate vulnerability (^{Dawson et al., 2007}). Campeche consumes 320 l of water per person with a potable water demand of 2914 l s^-1. The 33 water treatment plants operated by the city have a joint treatment capacity of 137.5 l s^-1; however, the actual volume of domestic wastewater treated is 6.2 l s^-1, since only 1.8% of the total homes are connected to the public sewage system, 74.4% have septic tanks, and there is no information for the remaining 23.8% (^{Gobierno de Campeche, 2014}).

Drinking water consumed in Campeche comes from the aquifer through the water pipeline system located in the Chiná region, 20 km away from downtown Campeche. This aquifer is of karstic type; therefore, it percolates a large volume of water, making Campeche dependent on underground water. According to the Comisión Nacional del Agua (National Water Commission) (^{CONAGUA, 2017}), Campeche belongs to the Water Region XII, in the Yucatan Peninsula, and to the RH-31 water sub-region, which covers 25 443 km² and receives 60% more rain than the national average. Within the Yucatan Peninsula, Campeche represents the lowlands, since this region tilts towards the state of Campeche, and water flows from the Peninsula’s center towards the coastal zone of Campeche. Rainfall recharges the aquifer, with water flowing through fractures and underground channels underground and in many cases ending up in the sea. It is estimated that the recharge of the aquifer of the Yucatan Peninsula, with an area of approximately 165 000 km², varies between 23 760 and 44 800 hm³ (^{Bauer-Gottwein et al., 2011}; ^{CONAGUA, 2017}).

However, even though fresh water availability is not a problem, water quality is a major issue. High salinity due to the cast and anhydrite dissolution, saline intrusion at the coast, agrochemical runoff, and domestic wastewater discharge, are all sources of water pollution. Moreover, there are no guidelines for building septic tanks in Campeche, where the aquifer is very shallow and there are numerous underground caves carrying fresh water carved in the limestone. This results in coastal water pollution, especially offshore from the old city where many pipelines and septic tanks were built through the years (^{Rivera et al., 2012}).

2.2 Integrated coastal zone management methodology

The development of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) for Campeche consisted of three phases: i) hydrological, biological and ecological research and analysis of water and sediment quality, ii) assessment of the institutional capacity to address coastal-marine issues and analysis of the existing legal framework, and iii) evaluation of sectorial involvement and coordination capabilities.

3.1 Flooding, hydrological and basin analyses

For a period from 1807 to 2011 (Table I), different parts of the city suffered floods due to upwelling and extreme rains. This table also shows the time-line of engineering structures built since 1950 that have resulted in seashore modification or improvement of the drainage pipeline system.

The climatological station in the city of Campeche, funded by CONAGUA, and operated through the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (National Meteorological Service), is located at 90.544° W, 19.838° N, and has 64 years (1952-2015) of accumulated daily rain data. Figure 1 presents the time series of annual precipitation, in which there are missing rain data in 1972 (60 days), in 1973 (32 days), and in 1981 (60 days). The annual average rain is 1043.78 mm, with the highest value (1965.8 mm) in 1995 associated with hurricanes Opal and Roxanne, which had a dramatic impact in the city of Campeche (^{Rivera et al., 2003}). The lowest values correspond to 1969, 1982,1983, and 1997, associated with drought periods for the whole state of Campeche (^{Cruz, 2017}).

Fig. 1 Annual rain for the city of Campeche (source: ^{CONAGUA, 2018}). 

^{Seenath et al. (2015)} developed a coastal flood vulnerability assessment to guide coastal management. ^{Palacio et al. (2005)} indicate that rainfall accumulations are likely when precipitation rates are higher than 41 mm/h. Figure 2a-c shows the time series of the number of days per five and ten years, that present precipitation larger than 40, 50 and 60 mm.

Fig. 2 Number of days with precipitation larger than (a) 40 mm, (b) 50 mm, and (c) 60 mm, every 1, 5 and 10 years. 

3.2 Hydrological basins

Seven watersheds were identified for the city, based on a digital elevation model (^{Posada et al., 2013}): (1) West, (2) Chapultepec, (3) University, (4) San Román, (5) Central, (6) La Ría and (7) North, which drain independently into the Bay of Campeche (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Watersheds for the city of San Francisco de Campeche. 

The La Ría basin is the largest and has the lowest slope, which causes a slow hydraulic response to rain events. On the other hand, University, Chapultepec and West basins have smaller areas, and their response capacity is fast due to the steepness of the slopes. The physiographic characteristics of all basins are shown in Table II (^{Mangas, 2018}).

The University, San Roman, Central, La Ría and North basins lacked drainage infrastructure, which justified the allocation of funds by the government for the construction of storm drainage in those areas. The integral network of pluvial drainage consists of 20 km in length, with rectangular sections from 4 to 12 m². The final configuration, concluded in the year 2015, is shown in Figure 4 (^{Mangas, 2018}).

Fig. 4 Hydraulic infrastructure built during the period 2010-2015. 

3.3 Building adaptation

The ICZM Plan for San Francisco de Campeche was prepared by consensus by all stakeholders of the three levels of government, and also the private sector, academics and representatives of the organized society (^{Torresan et al., 2016}). This ICZM process could be used for improving the negotiation and coordination of the three levels of government, as well as all related-sectors, the affected community, societal needs and the necessary scientific knowledge to support decision making based on consensus and science (^{Portman et al., 2015}). Building adaptation through the implementation of the ICZM considered the points detailed in the following subsections.

3.3.1 Members of the ICZM coordination group

This group was led and coordinated by the state government, with the Governor as its head, CONAGUA as the acting sectorial part, and the state minister of the Environment as the main coordinator. The tasks of this group were: (1) to identify all the necessary actions and products to be addressed for both flood risk and coastal water quality improvement; (2) to organize the agenda and work meetings; (3) to fulfill the objectives according to the given time-schedules; (4) to obtain the governmental permits and making the required studies; (5) to follow-up advances per working group; (6) to maintain data bases and files; (7) to identify critical issues and solving problems; (8) to settle disputes by negotiating, through all the steps and with all parties; and 9) to seek and get the required funding for operation.

3. 4 Assessment on the advances of each issue

The STCW worked for three years worked in all the above steps to prepare the ICZM plan. Every two weeks the STCW summoned each working group to report progress achieved, issues encountered, and needs discussed, as well as the best way to tackle them. A very important coordination task was the scheduling of all activities, studies, permits and works in an orchestrated fashion to facilitate administrative, legal and economic requirements. Another equally important chore was to coordinate public works from the three levels of government to make sure that once construction started in an avenue or street, all cables, pipelines, etc., were in place to avoid social and economic costs. The STCW also dealt with media and non-governmental organizations by providing one single channel for communicating the official version to the public, which diminished speculation and confusion.

3.5 Decision-making process and implementation

Transparency and accountability were mandatory throughout the ICZM process. The STCW was in charge of the project, and presented the ICZM plan to different sectors, the three levels of government and academics, for review. A number of comments and recommendations were given to the STCW, which were included and taken into consideration for the different steps of the project. During the operation process, decision-making was consensual in every single STCW meeting with the representatives of all the parties. The decision-making process was documented through proceedings that were signed by every party at the end of each meeting. Reports were written and sent to the heads of each sector, the governor and the civil society.

Problems arose during the implementation phase and the STCW had to made decisions to solve them in the best possible way. All issue-groups had appointed a contact person that communicated directly their requirements issues and needs to the STCW. This procedure avoided delays, major issues, and cascade problems. An important asset of the STCW coordination was the avoidance of duplication efforts, as well as the optimization of a cost-efficient use of funding and materials. Moreover, the implementation had to fulfill civil defense requirements as well as the coastal water quality improvement that the public was expecting.

4.1 Addressing coastal vulnerability

The vulnerability of Campeche’s coastal zone to hazards, such as extreme rain events, is increasing due to poor land planning, population growth and insufficient hydraulic infrastructure. The pressures of development and climate change set the pace in this accelerating process (^{Karrasch et al., 2014}). For effective coastal governance, it is imperative to address the vulnerability of coastal settlements to climate-related hazards (^{Flannery et al., 2015}). This is particularly the case of the city of San Francisco de Campeche, where development planning and control have a direct impact on vulnerability.

Reducing the vulnerability of coastal populations, risk mitigation and adaptation strategies need to be built into local spatial planning processes such as the integrated coastal zone management for Campeche city. The local, state and federal governments operate within a complex hierarchal framework which may promote or limit any particular actions regarding hydrological processes and flooding. It is important, therefore, to understand how local coastal planning practices are shaped by national and supranational entities in order to design a coordinated intervention to address any issue (^{Flannery et al., 2015}).

The municipal and state governments of Campeche had to respond to the demands of local population regarding floods, and ICZM evolved into the governance framework to enhance the policy cycle for decision-making (^{Ehler, 2003}). The ICZM process in Campeche allowed to address and overcome all the barriers confronting participatory governance. The successful actions and lessons learned were continuously applied, resulting in recommendations for moving forward (^{Kearney et al., 2007}). In compliance with article 115 of the Mexican constitution, the government shifted many coastal management responsibilities to local governments and fostered local participation in the management of coastal resources. In the delivery of ICZM as a basic service, Campeche achieved increasing public awareness of the management of coastal resources issues.

The environmental assessment of coastal waters enhanced science-policy integration and was useful to disseminate knowledge across sectors. During the numerous STCW meetings, planning hierarchy and regulatory commissions were effective mechanisms to integrate policies across government levels, with the latter also promoting public-government integration. Several economic instruments -such as the urban development plan, the environmental territorial plan and the Los Petenes Natural Protected Area management plan- had to be jointly analyzed and, in some cases, limited.

Results of this study also contribute to evidence-based coastal management by identifying the obstacles related to the mechanisms of integration in the case of addressing extreme events. While planning coastal risk management strategies, coastal managers need to assess risks across a range of spatial and temporal scales. For coastal extreme events, the ICZM considers flood hazards and its related damages; therefore, the building of resilience encompasses more governance complexity than traditional vulnerability or hazard approaches (^{IPCC, 2012}).

4.1.1 Urban growth and coastal water quality

The expanded urban settlements in Campeche face increased risks in the light of climate change. Urban population has increased and is forced to cope with flooding and coastal water pollution. Old coastal cities, such as San Francisco de Campeche, have major coastal water quality problems. Over the past 50 years, the city footprint has experienced growth along the coast through land-filling, in an attempt to provide public services as well as more land for commerce and tourism investors. The process involved cutting down mangroves, the loss of a small sand beach, and changes to the coastal marine zone and its associated changes to benthic fauna and flora. Constant changes in the coastal profile, altered oceanographic processes, and land availability resulted in hotels building and the expansion of commerce and tourism-related services. Additionally, poor institutional capacity and low investment in public services are a recipe for disaster.

The water quality issue was addressed by the STCW, which received the support of academics who had performed several environmental, social and institutional studies in constructing a baseline that allowed to coordinate actions and made collective decisions through the ICZM program. In Mexico, coastal and marine zones are under the jurisdiction of the federal government; therefore, states and municipal governments may be able to suggest and recommend actions in those areas but are legally unable to perform any activity nor take any decision without the approval of the federal government.

The governance challenge is to manage climate-related impacts in an urban context by promoting planned and autonomous adaptation in order to improve resilience for extreme rain events in changing climate (^{Tanner et al., 2009}). The ICMZ plan identified the impacts, accounting for societal needs and ecosystem services in the coastal zone.

The municipal government is responsible for building and operating the freshwater pipeline system, the distribution of fresh water, and the collection, cleaning and discharge of domestic wastewater. However, this is a weak level of government with poor capacity and scarce funding to perform any action during its three-year period of governance. On the other hand, the state government does not have any jurisdiction over municipal decisions but is entitled to provide aid whenever is needed. Moreover, the state may be able to collaborate and even seek funding for municipal actions on behalf of the wellness of the public. Furthermore, these two levels of government must act in accordance with the National Development Plan, federal actions are defined by generalized national policies that seek the improvement of coastal water quality and building resilience in coastal zones facing climate change events (Climate Change Act).

4.3 Flood risk

^{Klijn et al. (2015)} indicate that it is important to plan adaptive flood risk management based on a policy analysis that provides a future perspective for a required policy transition, an evaluation of possible flood risk management strategies, and early planning to avoid doing too little too late or too much too early. Building adaptation through the ICZM plan called for innovative approaches, accounting for uncertainties in long-term future urban developments. These authors postulate that flood risk management should consider basic principles, tailoring and implementing portfolios of technical measures, jointly with an urban development plan together with other policy instruments.

Disaster risks arise when physical hazards interact with social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities. Hydrometeorological events are often associated with the majority of disasters. Despite the growing understanding and acceptance of the importance of disaster risk reduction and increased disaster response capacities, disasters, and in particular the management and reduction of risks, continue to represent a challenge for Campeche.

There is now international acknowledgement that efforts to reduce disaster risks must be systematically integrated into policies, plans and programs for sustainable development and poverty reduction, and should be supported through bilateral, regional and international cooperation, including partnerships. The following are some of the previous international efforts to reduce disaster risks:

This study demonstrates the importance of the ICZM plan, not only because it is coherent with the Sendai Framework, but also for understanding and systematizing the factors that lead to risks, as well as leading and supporting the successful implementation of disaster risk reduction and adaptation. Moreover, ^{Khunwishit et al. (2018)} examined the effects of leadership on the disaster resilience of a city and the positive effect of flood resilience building on a city’s progress.

Since municipal governments in the state of Campeche last only three years, the state governments (which lasts six years) have more experience and possibilities to deal with risk management. Having chosen the ICZM as a methodology to deal with risks, the state government had the ability to influence, communicate, and enlist sectorial heads, as well as city residents, to agree on and support the disaster risk reduction strategy and adaptation building of the city.

The STCW needed to negotiate adaptation building with federal authorities, since adaptation encompasses more complexities than a traditional vulnerability or hazards approach (^{Flood and Schechtman, 2014}). After all, floods due to extreme rain events often lead to city collapse, and ICZM may address both goals through the same strategy. As this work highlights, the importance of policy, legal frameworks, environmental education, cost/benefit analysis, and hydrology and geography studies for the coastal management area became evident during the governmental intervention. The fostering of the ICZM governance framework, as well as a clear linkage between climate adaptation and the management of the coastal zone of Campeche, underlines the effective coordination and communication among actors and users. The ICZM exercise may help to examine whether this concept represented a paradigm shift or it maintains the dominant sectorial perspective of earlier hazard mitigation approaches under a new guise.

The Campeche project faced continuing challenges (especially financial sustainability), inadequate capacities, weak law enforcement, and lack of integrated and collaborative efforts. To address these challenges, the emerging governance system improved strategies and promoted incentives for the local government to support ICZM. This system is being applied by an increasing number of local governments for guiding the development and implementation of ICZM in their jurisdictions (^{White et al., 2007}).