Mexico's Sacred 'Eyes of Water' Threatened by Uncontrolled Tourism and Industrial Farming

PISTE, MEXICO - JULY 16: Tourists swim in the Ik-Kil cenote, one of the most visited due to its proximity to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza on July 16, 2022 in Piste, Mexico. The Yucatan Peninsula has the world's largest underwater cave system, with over 2,400 cenotes. Along with the industrial growth, the Yucatan region experiences a tourism boom due to the end of COVID restrictions and sargassum on the coast. Uncontrolled visitor's quota threatens limestone ground and water quality. Considered sacred places by the Mayas since the ancient times, these underwater wonders are now threatened by the increasing number of pork and poultry farms that everyday pollute the aquifer. Environmental organizations which carried out studies on the water alerted on high levels of toxic substances and lack of wastewater treatment plants. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)