Water: On notice there is no deception
On Thursday of last week, the United States ambassador, Ken Salazar, was in Mexicali to tour the border crossing between Mexico and the United States in the so-called downtown area of Mexicali-Calexico, in order to verify the progress of the construction works. from the border port, he also toured the so-called Laguna Grande in the Mexicali valley.
In a press conference in conjunction with Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, Ambassador Salazar was clear in pointing out that “next summer will be a difficult one and a spring that, even if there is snow, there will be a shortage of water and it will be more and more according to the levels of water supply, if we might say that the reality is that we are going to have all the water that is required, we would be dreaming, because it is not reality”.
Governor Ávila agreed with the ambassador, pointing out that “if we do not take action today, then we might not guarantee the public the water supply; forceful actions are required, there is more demand than we count and there is misuse of the resource in some cases and situations”.
Given the critical situation that is being experienced in this border region due to the lack of water, it was agreed to create a work group to guarantee the water supply for both nations. The first formal meeting will be held on February 28, while California is already taking action. The Colorado River, which provides drinking water to 40 million people in seven US states, is running dry, testing a water sharing pact amid the worst drought in history, caused by climate change.
California announced its withdrawal from the pact with Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming ahead of the deadline to negotiate their supply cuts or face mandatory cuts by the federal government.
Kevin Moran, water policy specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund, said of this measure: “What happened today was a step forward; six of the seven basin states are catching up to reduce Colorado River water use, which is absolutely necessary following 20 years of drought and the impacts of climate change.”
When the states reached an agreement 100 years ago – this includes Baja California – it was expected that the river might provide 24.6 billion cubic meters of water a year. However, over the last two decades the actual flow has been reduced to 15.4 billion cubic meters on average, leaving state water managers with more rights on paper than the existing supply.
It is worth mentioning that while the states of the American Union that depend on water from the Colorado River are willing to defend their endowment drop by drop, in Baja California -so far- no water plan has been presented that outlines a strategy that seeks to guarantee water to cities, industry and the countryside.
The crisis due to lack of water that Baja California is experiencing tends to worsen and -at first glance- it seems that nobody is doing anything. On notice there is no deception.
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