Mexico City expects less rainfall this summer during the annual rainy season, but local officials are still making efforts to get ready for serious flooding.

One precaution involves using the city's 7,500 security cameras to quickly spot and react to fast-rising floods, which can be triggered by heavy downpours in the rainy season.

"We're going to be more vigilant," said Miguel Ricano, director of institutional relations for Water System of Mexico City and leader of its "Storm Unit."

Ricano said the city government will use the cameras during heavy rain storms to spot areas most at risk of flooding and then quickly mobilize emergency response teams from the local health, civil protection and public security ministries, along with sending in firefighting crews and preparing emergency shelters.

The Storm Unit will also issue early warnings on the days that heavy rain is forecast.

The new approach of preparing for floods comes as changing weather patterns and continued population growth in Mexico City make water management increasingly difficult.

The National Water Commission said that drought conditions have affected 40 percent of the country so far this year and should result in less rainfall this summer in Mexico City.

Ramon Aguirre, director of the Water System of Mexico City, said that weather forecasts for the upcoming months are calling for 15 percent less precipitation, reducing the odds of a serious flood in the capital.

However, many of the factors causing floods in Mexico City are beyond the control of local officials.

Elias Moreno Brizuela, civil protection minister in Mexico City, said that an estimated 400 tons of garbage that has ended up in the drainage system could worsen a flood.

Local officials have urged residents not to litter and have cleaned garbage from the drainage system in the months leading up to the rainy season, which usually begins in June.

Jacobo Espinoza, director of an environmental group in a flood-prone region on the southeastern outskirts of Mexico City, said geography and changing weather patterns are making floods in the capital region increasingly worse and more frequent.

Mexico City is largely built on the soft soil of a former lake bed, which has sunk in some areas by up to 40 centimeters and is damaging water infrastructure, he said.

The city has also failed to protect some ecologically sensitive areas, he added, explaining that this means less water is being absorbed and replenishing aquifers. Another problem is the nature of the rainy season itself, which now lasts four months on average instead of five months previously.

"We have less rainfall, but more intense storms," Espinosa said.

Aguirre, director of the local water system, has expressed optimism that good planning will help Mexico City avoid disastrous flooding, which, according to the worst-case scenarios published by the federal government, could leave the eastern part of the capital under water.

He said 700 million pesos (about 60 million U.S. dollars) have been invested in improving water infrastructure in recent years. The federal government has also been constructing a drainage system deep underground to carry excess water out of Mexico City, which is located in a high-altitude valley.

"We can't avoid the rain," Aguirre said, but the local government can make sure the "impact on the roads and homes of Mexico City is as minimal as possible."

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