natural area
According to the Management Program of the Lake Texcoco Natural Resources Protection Area, it has some of the following characteristics:[4].
• - It is located within the State of Mexico in the municipalities of Texcoco, Atenco, Chimalhuacán, Ecatepec de Morelos and Nezahualcóyotl.
• - It has a total area of 14,000.334853 hectares.
• - It is located at an altitude of between 2,240 to 2,260 meters above sea level.
• - The composition of the soil is 77% Solonchak, 16% Vertisol and the rest corresponds to bodies of water.
• - It receives discharges from nine rivers: San Juan Teotihuacán, Papalotla, Xalapango, Coaxcacoac, Texcoco, Chapingo, San Bernardino, Santa Mónica and Coatepec and the company and Ameca rivers pass through it. It also has some swamps "Ciénaga (wetland)") such as San Juan and Xalapango and some artificial bodies of water such as the Churubusco, Horaria, El Fusible lagoons, Nabor Carrillo lake and two regulation lagoons.
• - Two climatic units are presented based on the INEGI National Climate Chart based in turn on the Köppen climate classification: BS1kw semiarid temperate and C(wo) temperate subhumid.
According to the Management Program of the Lake Texcoco Natural Resources Protection Area, it is divided into the following thirteen subzones:[4].
• - Casa Colorada North Lagoon Preservation Subzone: This is a regulation lagoon that serves as a refuge and nesting site for the species Charadrius nivosus and for low-impact activities such as the traditional use of tequesquite, corresponding to an area of 285.479119 hectares included in a single polygon.
• - Cerritos Traditional Use Subzone: Corresponds to the surface of the Tepetzingo and Huautepec hills in which there is the presence of archaeological vestiges and petroglyphs, here traditional cultural activities associated with the ritual ceremonies of pre-Hispanic cultures are carried out, it covers an area of 22,709634 hectares divided into two polygons.
• - Ciénegas Traditional Use Subzone: It is characterized by the presence of the Ciénega de San Juan and the Xalapango Lagoon and activities to exploit wildlife for subsistence are carried out; of traditional uses of romeritos, tequesquite, spirulina algae and mosco; and grazing and collecting grasses for forage, covers an area of 1,704.037024 hectares comprised in three polygons.
• - Subzone for Sustainable Use of Agricultural Ecosystems: Corresponds to agricultural areas for planting corn, beans, alfalfa, vegetables, asparagus, cactus and forage (risky and seasonal) in addition to livestock and grazing, corresponding to an area of 2,877.103813 hectares divided into six polygons.
• - Subzone of Sustainable Use of El Moño Ecosystems: It presents halophilic vegetation and highly salty dreams, it has the infrastructure of the Polytechnic University and includes an area of 371.434896 hectares divided into two polygons.
• - Shot Bank Special Use Subzone: It includes infrastructure of the National Water Commission where products from the desilting of the major drainage network of the Valley of Mexico are received for subsequent composting and integration of fertile soils to reforest the Ecological Area, covering an area of 53.695017 hectares divided into two polygons.
• - Special Use Subzone 1: The pantheons of the communities of Atenco and Francisco I. Madero and a wastewater sanitation wetland are located, it includes the Peñón-Pirámides highway and a central road that connects the Ecological Park with the viewpoints, it covers an area of 105.330536 hectares divided into five polygons.
• - Special Use Subzone 2: It is a Tezontle and Basalt collection site intended for the foundation of the New International Airport of Mexico City (NAICM) and where there are railway tracks used for their extraction, it covers an area of 123.973394 hectares divided into two polygons.
• - Special Use Subzone for Water Regulation: It includes hydraulic infrastructure and a water regulator vessel to which various aquatic birds arrive. The water tributaries and drains of Mexico City and the State of Mexico converge here and there are also water treatment and pumping systems. It includes an area of 2,546.870881 hectares divided into 18 polygons.
• - PELT Public Use Subzone: It includes the Ecological Park in which recreational and visiting activities are carried out, with sports fields, cycling tracks, camping areas and parking lots, covering an area of 324.407411 hectares divided into three polygons.
• - Wellbeing Public Use Subzone: It is characterized by presenting vegetation resulting from grazing processes and tree reforestation and by the majority presence of Solonetz and Solonchak type soils with potential use for tourism and education for social development, it comprises an area of 10,600299 hectares made up of a single polygon.
• - Lake Texcoco Recovery Subzone: It includes the sites most disturbed by the construction of the NAICM, it has saline surfaces covered with soil filled with Tepetate and waste from construction and demolition of infrastructure, it covers an area of 4,333.819737 hectares comprised in nine polygons.
• - Caracol Recovery and Regulation Subzone-Regulation Lagoons: It includes the site known as El Caracol "El Caracol (Texcoco Lake)") and Regulation Lagoons 1 and 2, the predominant soil is solonchak and has potential for water regulation and restoration, it covers an area of 1,240.873092 hectares comprised in four polygons.
Park
The park is part of the subzone known as the PELT Public Use Subzone, which has an area of 324.407411 hectares; The predominant soil in the subzone is solonchak; It has halophilic vegetation; The existing roads within the polygons of the subzone and the parking lot are made of tezontle with an approximate width of four meters, it is in charge of the National Water Commission"); and it is divided into three polygons:[4].
• - Polygon 1 Parking: It has an area of 2.642266 hectares and includes a parking lot near the viewpoints in the Ciénega de San Juan which is mostly used to access them.
• - Polygon 2 PELT: has an area of 250.15098 hectares and is home to the Park in which recreational activities and visits to the general public are carried out, with sports fields, cycling tracks, camping areas, street furniture, parking lots, a nursery with an area of 10 hectares, a biofilter and a pavilion for activities such as school visits, workshops and conferences.
• - Polígono 3 Parque Sur: It has an area of 71.614165 hectares and has a parking lot, sports and recreation equipment.
According to the Management Program of the Lake Texcoco Natural Resources Protection Area, some activities are allowed in this subzone, such as the scientific collection of wildlife specimens; environmental education; the eradication or control of exotic, invasive or harmful species; scientific research and monitoring of the environment and low environmental impact tourism while others such as aquaculture; agriculture; the alteration or destruction by any means or action of feeding, nesting, shelter or reproduction sites of wildlife; Works or activities of mining exploration or exploitation "Mine (mining)") and the transit of motor vehicles outside established roads are prohibited.[4].