According to data from the National Water Commission (Conagua), of the 210 main dams in Mexico, 35 are at more than 100% of their capacity, 90 have levels above 70% and 20 are below 20 percent.
During this year’s rainy season, most of the country’s 210 main dams recovered their water levels; However, Northern States such as Chihuahua and Sonora continue to have drought problems that have an impact on the family economy.
Experts point out that, although the dams are at good levels, this does not guarantee that, once the dry season arrives in May 2025, they can be maintained in conditions that meet the needs of the population, both in agricultural and industrial matters.
Great year for the agricultural sector
After years of drought in Aguascalientes, in 2024 four of the most important reservoirs in the State were filled, two register levels that exceed 60 and 70%, although the Plutarco Elías Calles dam, the largest, has 17% of its capacity.
According to data from Conagua, of these dams, 35 are at more than 100% of their capacityamong which the Tampico dam stands out with 128%; El Azúcar, also in Tamaulipas, with 125%, and the Tomatlán dam in Jalisco with 118%, according to data up to October 22.
Meanwhile, 90 dams have levels above 70% of their capacitylike Tecomán, in Colima, with 100%; Jalpan, in the State of Querétaro, with 99%; El Caracol, in Guerrero, with 97% and Peñitas in Chiapas, with 83%, among others.
However, 20 dams are less than 20% fullhighlighting two States, Chihuahua with four and Sonora with six with low percentages, one of them is Hermosillo which has 0%. While in Michoacán the De Gonzalo dam has only 1 percent.
In other reservoirs, rainfall was insufficient to fill them, including the Palote de León Dam, which this year dried up completely, and now it has 22% of its capacitywhile last year its storage was 10%.
The water from this dam is intended to supply 5% of Leonese homes, and is located in the heart of the León Metropolitan Park. One factor that prevented the dam from improving its water levels was an irregular action by people who diverted the liquid that comes down from the hills for personal benefit.
Other dams report excess water and lack of infrastructure. In Nuevo León, according to the authorities, Tropical Storm Alberto ended the drought that the State was maintaining, but also, the excess water in the dams forced 13 releases and collapsed the hydraulic infrastructure in some areas of Monterrey.
Climate change alters the weather
The general director of the Southern Border basin organization of the Conagua, Felipe Irineo Pérez recognized that climate change altered the rainy season in Chiapas and as a consequence, the four hydroelectric dams located on the river Grijalva suffered the drought during the last two years.
“The drought has been evident. “There has not been much rain, both in 2023 and part of the current year, which lowered the levels of the dams, whose function is to produce electrical energy.”
He indicated that “they lowered both La Angostura, which is a reservoir, and the Malpaso reservoir to 26 percent of its capacity, to a quarter. It did not bring any repercussions due to the control of the dams and the scheduling of how much and when they should be turbined or released. There was no shortage of dams or crops, sufficient filling has been controlled so that the rivers have water for the intakes that exist for domestic use,” he said.
For the environmentalist Marco Antonio Moreno Gaytán, although the dams are at good levels, this does not guarantee that, once the dry season arrives in the month of May 2025, they can be maintained in conditions that meet the needs of the population, both in terms of agricultural as well as industrial.
According to the Conaguathe most relevant bodies of water in the Water System of the Valley of Mexico and the southern part of the State are found in 70% of the global storage percentage.
CT
