By the time the Colorado River reaches Mexico, just a fraction of its water is left for the fields of the Mexicali Valley and millions of people in northwestern desert cities. Now, that supply is more at risk than ever.
Water experts and scientists say Mexico, at the end of the river, will need to find other water for the two northwestern states that depend on it. They say the country will also have to use its supply more efficiently. But Mexico has been slow to act.
Tijuana, the sprawling border city of 2 million people, is especially dependent on the Colorado. About 90% of its water comes from the river. Parts of the city have baked this summer as taps ran dry — sometimes due to mismanagement — with local water authorities blaming it on the drought. Roberto Salmón helped oversee U.S.-Mexico treaties on borders and rivers as Mexico’s representative to the International Boundary and Water Commission between 2009 and 2020. He said a desalination plant would help Tijuana considerably.“But discussions had been going on ever since I came into the commission,” Salmón said, “and there is no plant yet.”
Since 1944, Mexico has received slightly more than a third of what California can take each year from the Colorado River. Next year, it will lose 7% of that, or more than what the industrial border city of Mexicali — population 1 million — uses in a year, according to Alfonso Cortez-Lara, an environmental professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Mexicali who researches transboundary water issues.
Rodriguez said he has encouraged farmers for years to grow more drought-resistant crops and plant tighter rows to use less water, which some farmers have taken up. Eventually, he thinks the government could restrict how much alfalfa and cotton Mexicali Valley farmers can grow.According to a recent study, the state of Baja California could need nearly 30% more than it gets now from the Colorado River by 2030 to not be water stressed.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
1 dead after motorboat flips on Colorado River in Grand Canyon National ParkOfficials received a report about a flipped motorboat at Bedrock Rapid on Saturday afternoon. It is unclear how many people were in the boat.
Read more »
One man dead multiple people injured on Colorado River67-year-old Ronald Vanderlugt has died after a boat he was in flipped near Bedrock Rapid on the Colorado River.
Read more »
100 years after compact, Colorado River nearing crisis pointUntil recently, water managers and politicians whose constituents rely on the river have avoided the most difficult questions about how to rebalance a system in which demand far outpaces supply. In…
Read more »
In Mexico’s dry north, Colorado River adds to uncertaintyBy the time the Colorado River reaches Mexico, just a fraction of its water is left for the fields of the Mexicali Valley and millions of people in northwestern desert cities. Now, that supply is more at risk than ever.
Read more »