Severe drought threatens Sinaloa due to La Niña; dams are at critical level

▲ View of the Sanalo-na dam, in the municipality of Culiacán, Sinaloa, which currently has a storage level of 25.3 percent. Photo El Debate de Sinaloa

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada NewspaperMonday, February 24, 2025, p. 29

The average storage level of dams in Sinaloa reached 11.8 percent (1,876.8 million cubic meters) yesterday. If the situation is already critical, the outlook for the coming months is bleak, since in the northwest of the country there will be a shortage of rain due to the La Niña phenomenon, reported Juan Espinosa Luna, an expert in applied geophysics.

He explained that La Niña conditions are expected to persist in the short term, with a transition to a neutral state of Enos (phase of this climatic phenomenon in which it does not occur) between the months of March and May, with a 66 percent probability.

The specialist warned that these conditions do not favor the probability of precipitation in the northwest of Mexico. As a result, in Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California Sur, the extreme drought will intensify and cause serious water supply problems in those states.

The geophysicist made an urgent call to protect the liquid and to monitor the overexploitation of groundwater, since we have gone two years without hydraulic recharge and exploitation has increased .

He stressed that currently there is the knowledge and technology to make an adequate estimate of the availability and exploitation of underground resources, and therefore insisted on the need to take immediate measures.

I insist on this, since we will reach May with severe limitations on water services in general, which we will see reflected in intermittent cuts, rationing , he warned.

Given this situation, he called on the Federal Electricity Commission to guarantee the supply of energy, since Sinaloa is supplied by hydroelectric and thermoelectric plants.

The expert showed graphs with the estimated temperatures and precipitation until July, where it can be seen that there will be no rain in the northwest region, which confirms the serious outlook that lies ahead.

The Directorate of the North Pacific Basin Agency of the National Water Commission (Conagua) released yesterday its report on the state of the dams, which is the lowest in the last 30 years.

The Adolfo López Mateos, the largest in Sinaloa, is at 7.6 percent (235.9 million cubic meters of water); Luis Donaldo Colosio, known as Huites, at 3 percent (95.1 million cubic meters).

Conagua explained that the reservoirs with the best storage are Miguel Hidalgo, with 441 million cubic meters (13.3 percent).

In order of importance, he said, the Gustavo Díaz Ordaz follows with 20.9 percent of capacity (337.8 million cubic meters); the López Portillo, 11.3 percent (291.6 million), and the Sanalona, ​​with 25.3 percent (174.1 million).

The Aurelio Benassini dam is at 31.2 percent (126.1 million cubic meters); Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, 17.7 percent (92 million cubic meters); Guillermo Blacke Aguilar, 21.2 percent (62.2 million cubic meters). The Eustaquio Buelna dam has storage capacity of 17.6 percent (14.1 million cubic meters) and the Juan Guerrero Alcocer, 12.3 percent (6.8 million cubic meters).

With information from El Debate de Sinaloa

Elio Henriquez

Correspondent

La Jornada NewspaperMonday, February 24, 2025, p. 29

Oxchuc, Chis., Amid a strong police presence and with no reports of incidents, the process to elect the person who will preside over the council in this municipality, the only one governed by customs and traditions in Chiapas, began yesterday.

As agreed by the Oxchuc community assembly, the elections were held yesterday with ballots and ballot boxes to elect who will preside over the city council; on the 23rd the process will continue by show of hands to designate those who will head the municipal council and the councilors.

Helena Jiménez Martínez, advisor to the Institute for Elections and Citizen Participation (IEPC), reported that 76 polling stations would be set up in the town and communities for the 42,049 citizens on the nominal list to vote.

Yesterday's race involves 11 candidates, six women and five men, elected through assemblies. The president of Oxchuc's council, Luis Sántiz Gómez, whose term will end on the 28th of this month, announced that as of 10 a.m. he had no reports of incidents in any of the 142 communities.

The president of the Community Front for the Defense of Self-Determination of Oxchuc, Oscar Gomez Lopez, said that it is a special day for the municipality, because what we want is governability for the good of the population .

▲ The governor of Sonora, Alfonso Durazo Montaño (center), explained that the goal is to achieve the construction of 33,800 houses in the state over the next six years.

La Jornada NewspaperMonday, February 24, 2025, p. 29

Cajeme, Son., With the launch of the National Housing Program for Well-being in Sonora, Governor Alfonso Durazo Montaño and President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo jointly promote an unprecedented housing policy and open the possibility for citizens to access a safe and accessible home.

Governor Durazo, while leading the launch of the Housing for Well-Being Program in Cajeme, explained that the construction of 328 homes is projected in this municipality, out of a total of 4,767 that will be built in the first half of the year in Sonora, with the goal of achieving the construction of 33,800 houses in the next six years.

This project is expected to deliver 30,000 deeds in the state, as well as generate more than 380,000 direct and indirect jobs, thereby benefiting the region's economy in favor of Sonoran families.

This program will give priority to families earning less than two minimum wages, as well as to young people and women who study and work, which will ensure that vulnerable populations have adequate and accessible housing as a right and no longer a privilege.