The Yucatan lowlands have no rivers, making freshwater storage systems particularly important there.
Notes on verification
Multiple independent geological, hydrological, and archaeological sources (USGS, UNESCO, PNAS, Nature) confirm the lack of surface rivers due to karst topography and the resulting reliance on cenotes, reservoirs, and cisterns for freshwater. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.983 clusters=6 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=partial (upstreams: UNESCO/UN-Water Summit on Groundwater (interview with Dr. Yolanda López-Maldonado), USGS hydrogeological studies (Back & Lesser 1981), PNAS study on ancient Maya reservoirs (Lucero et al.)) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- Drought May Have Spelled End for Maya | HISTORY (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/little-has-been-done-recognise-ancient-mayan-practices-groundwater-management (corroboration)
- https://www.frommers.com/destinations/yucatan-peninsula/in-depth/the-lay-of-the-land/ (corroboration)
- https://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/geology~.htm (corroboration)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02456-1 (corroboration)
- https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2306870120 (corroboration)
- https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70018958 (corroboration)