Mexico on drought alert: dams rapidly declined their level

The National Water Commission (Conagua) reported that as of March 28, the country's 210 main dams have a total storage of 72,699 million cubic meters, or 1,674 million less than what was reported a week ago.

The Technical Sub-Directorate General of Conagua detailed that of these 210 dams, only four are 100% filled, with a total total of 78 million cubic meters, while 73 are between 75 and 100%, with a reserve of 26,922 Mm3.

He added that 64 reservoirs have between 50 and 75% of their capacity, adding 36,864 Mm3, and warned that 19 are already below 50%, with just 819 Mm3.

The storage of the three main dams of the Cutzamala System (El Bosque, Valle de Bravo and Villa Victoria), which supplies part of the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, stood at 54.3% according to the March 28 report, which represents a decrease of 1.4%, compared to the data exposed only in the 22nd of the same month.

Conagua explained that the El Bosque dam stood at 48.2%, with 97.6 million cubic meters, that is, with a decrease of 3.7%; that of Villa Victoria at 45.5%, with 84.5 million and a decrease of 2%, while that of Valle de Bravo is 61.6%, with 243 million and an increase of 0.2%.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) stated that from October 1, 2021 to March 27, 2022 it rained 20.7% less than the historical average for that same period.

Regarding the maximum temperatures, the Metereológico said that in regions of the states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas the thermometer exceeded 35 degrees Celsius, aggravating the drought scenario.

This scenario was foreseen by specialists such as Christian Domínguez Sarmiento, from the UNAM Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change, who said that some states could face drought problems as worrying as those that occurred in early 2021 and explained that these conditions are provoked mainly because of the phenomenon “La Niña”.

He added that “La Niña” causes a lot of evaporation and few clouds, while causing radiation to enter Mexico directly. This decreases the chance of rain.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador received this Tuesday at the National Palace the visit of Enrique Alfaro, governor of Jalisco, and Samuel García, from Nuevo León, both to deal with the issue of, water scarcity. The president paid special attention to the city of Monterrey and its metropolitan area due to the severe drought that it is going through.

Regarding the critical situation in Nuevo León, the head of the Executive said that “there have been meetings between the director of CONAGUA and the governor. We made the commitment since the previous one was there (government) and we have been complying. We will attend to whether more resources are needed to solve the problem of water supply in Nuevo León and also that water use is prioritized and that people have the right. Putting water supply to homes first”.

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