In the following months there could be scheduled supply cuts for the Monterrey metropolitan area, due to the low level of the Cerro Prieto dam and an adverse forecast in terms of rain in the short term.
Even Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey (AyDM, the state company for the water administration) raised the tone of its awareness campaigns on the care of the resource; but, in the words of Gerardo Garza, general director of the organization, the efforts have been unsuccessful.
"The situation is very critical, 15 percent of the water that reaches the city comes from the Cerro Prieto source, and it will stop pumping in 50 - 55 days," he explained. And he added that with the connection works with other water sources, and whose value is 30 million pesos, the life of the dam could be extended another 60 days.
However, he explained that if it were not for these extraordinary tasks, as well as a change in the operational policy of water distribution, which implies taking less liquid from this source, Cerro Prieto would be dry since last November.
And the rain forecasts are not encouraging; In fact, for the area where this dam is located, there is a seven-year history with decreasing rainfall, a phenomenon that could be associated with climate change, explained Garza.
"We intend not to affect the daily life of users. Maybe we suspend it (the supply) between 1:00 and 5:00 in the morning, when there is less consumption, "he said.
He explained that the average consumption of the city is 15 cubic meters per second, that is, 15 thousand liters of water; however, in summers there are peaks above 17.5 cubic meters.
"We are already in a crisis for two years, the issue of fines to users is not to collect, but is for conscience," he said.
The set of dams that supply the city is made up of El Chuchilo, which is at 54 percent of its capacity; La Boca, at 75 percent and Cerro Prieto, at 17 percent; although, due to current demand, it is complemented by the well system of the metropolitan area, Mina and La Huasteca.
The extended drought
According to the Mexico Drought Monitor, from the National Meteorological Service (SMN), as of March 31, about 84 percent of the national territory was in drought conditions.
In the case of Nuevo León, the north and northeast strip of the state presents extreme and exceptional drought conditions, which have been present at least since August 2020.
In addition, the percentage of precipitation for April 2021, according to data from the National Water Commission (Conagua), in the state is 50 percent below the normal range of rainfall.
Summer
In the summer of Nuevo León, when temperatures of up to 44 degrees are present in the shade, the evaporation of water from the dams even exceeds the capacity with which the resource is available.
Garza explained that while, for example, from the El Cuchillo dam between 5 and 6 cubic meters per second are extracted for the city, 10 cubic meters per second are evaporated.
"That is, evaporation is very high in summer," he emphasized.
The alternatives
For Alfonso Martínez Muñoz, director of the Citizen Observatory of Air Quality of the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, the alternatives to find solutions to the water problem in Nuevo León are associated with reducing the ‘Water Footprint”.
Which implies consuming less water in different uses: public use (park, gardens, public buildings), commercial use, industrial use, domestic use. Even for livestock and agricultural uses, he explained.
"The Water Footprint is the volume of fresh water consumed, used and contaminated directly by the daily activities we carry out, plus the volume of water used in the production of the goods and services we consume," he explained.
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