**1.1 Main coastal lagoons in the Gulf of Mexico**

One of the great problems of the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico is the diverse and significant water load of the different anthropogenic activities which have not taken into account the volume that must be conserved for the ecological services for which have been lost atmospheres of diverse biological wealth. The coastal flood plains in the Gulf, associated with coastal zones on the border with the terrestrial zone and the sea, are subject to flooding by rainfall, excess fluvial contribution that makeup dikes and channels but that play important roles in the coastal landscape and they contribute to the high production of the coastal zone, however; they run the risk of various deteriorations with or without recovery [1–6].

The coastal zone associated with rivers, is interconnected by an extensive network of wetlands and floodplains temporary and perennial that allow the retention of water,

**Figure 1.** *Location of main coastal lagoons in the Gulf of Mexico.*

act as filters, deposits and source for various substances and re the habitat of plant species adapted to these conditions and fauna associated with this vegetation both emerging and submerged. The main problems that lagoons located within or near urban areas have are eutrophication, siltation caused almost always by inadequate management of the urban basin and lack of control of wastewater inlets, but in particular agriculture refuses [7–9]. The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world, with five Mexican states to the west. Due to its physical and chemical characteristics, it is a very diverse internal sea as a result of its latitudinal location; from tropical, subtropical to temperate, with climates classified as "dry" (spring), rainy (summer, autumn) and northern (winter) [10]. The coastal lagoons and estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico have been characterized environmentally taking into account: their location, shape, size, runoff and tributary streams, number and size of the mouths of connection with the sea, their behavior throughout the year, their bathymetry, internal currents, the type of sediment they receive from the watershed to which they are associated, gases, dissolved solids or salinity and primary productivity, among others [11]. Based on the foregoing, each coastal lagoon and estuary differs in their mentioned characteristics. Given the high number of coastal systems of the Gulf, the present work has the objective of choosing four coastal lagoons (**Figure 1**) to exemplify their physicochemical natural variations in space and time considering their geographic location two; as well as the level metals, hydrocarbons, and pesticides. This chapter is comprised: a brief description of a four coastal lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico chosen in this study, as well as of the incorporation of previously published information with the methods used to obtain data; the presentation of the results and the consequent discussion; and brief comparison with other lagoons of the coastal region; and the most outstanding conclusion.
