The mugs with the inscription “Valle de Bravo” that Guadalupe García sells at the pier show a beautiful lake, overflowing with blue. When he turns around, the reality he perceives in this enclave of the State of Mexico is very different: “You see those white spots on the red columns, that’s where the water came from.” The 52-year-old merchant has spent much of her life supplying souvenirs from the reservoir, sales that have decreased by 50% in a few years due to the lack of tourism. The main cause of this is that the prey that monopolizes the images of her merchandising is at 37% of her capacity. The triggers: a severe drought, the drainage of the Cutzamala system to supply the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico and the exploitation of the resource for the creation of artificial lakes on the luxury properties of weekend residents.
García lives in the “popular” part of the Loma Bonita neighborhood, among the large number of chalets that dot the municipality of Valle de Bravo (61,590 inhabitants). He remembers that the water started to go down “when the pandemic hit.” During the 2020 confinement, water consumption in homes skyrocketed. Officially named Miguel Alemán, the dam in front of the vendor is the largest of the three – along with Villa Victoria and El Bosque (Michoacán) – that belong to the Cutzamala, which supplies large municipalities in the State of Mexico such as Toluca or Lerma and 25% of the country’s capital.
Although in Mexico City municipalities, such as Iztapalapa or Álvaro Obregón, the population of many neighborhoods has had dry taps and has been resorting to water pipes for years, the National Water Commission (Conagua) announced on September 4 the stoppage of the drainage of the Cutzamala reservoir. Also the transfer of water from the El Bosque dam to the Valle de Bravo dam to recover liters.
These decisions were made after on September 2, 1,500 people from Valle de Bravo, who rely on the tourism that comes to the reservoir, demonstrated against the exploitation of the resource. The fifth protest in just two years. They were called to demand better management by Conagua, but also to draw the attention of the three levels of Government. This newspaper tried, without success, to talk with the Decentralized Public Organization for the Provision of Drinking Water, Sewage and Sanitation Services of Valle de Bravo, the institution in charge of the town’s hydraulic infrastructure.
The dam has recovered only 3% of water from September to November, but in the last week it has once again been in the red. The other factor that has triggered the low percentages is the lack of rain. Mexico has been in a drought emergency since July 2022. As if that were not enough, the rainy season that began in May ended this October, leaving local residents devastated by the dry season that is upon them.
Valle de Bravo continues to be a privileged destination thanks to its reservoir, nestled between mountains dense with green vegetation. A study by the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico estimates that in one weekend the town can have 30,000 more inhabitants, a residential tourism that takes advantage of to practice activities such as sailing, water skiing, kayaking routes or boat rides. . But between the pier plaza, where the small waves of the lake once broke, and the water, there is now 250 meters of muddy land that shows some shreds of grass and bushes.
At the end of that stretch is the iconic Los Pericos restaurant. It is not the same as when it launched its floating platforms into the water, in 1970, because from time to time the structure has to be renewed. The current complex dates back to 2000. Its owner, 69-year-old businessman David Rodríguez, laments the drop in water levels: “Covid happens, we get up, and the water starts to go down.”
Aesthetics are important for any company. “Normally, this restaurant was where the parking lot was, at the foot of the stairs on the main avenue. Suddenly you arrived there, you left your car and 20 meters away you ate at the lake. The landscape changes a lot. Now you have to walk a lot and it’s not so demanding,” explains Rodríguez.
The businessman also owns two boats with capacity for 150 people that take a tour across the lake with food and drink services. While sailing, Rodríguez puts on his captain’s hat and acts as public relations with clients. Only about 40 or 50 passengers fill it on its three daily trips on weekends, the peak days of tourism that comes from different parts of the country for a getaway to his second residence.
The population centers of Valle de Bravo and Avándaro are the towns where many people enjoy luxurious chalets with large plots of land. In some of these extensions, the civil organization Guardianes de Valle de Bravo has counted, thanks to satellite images, more than 200 artificial lakes that capture water from the rivers that feed the dam. The association has asked Conagua to regularize the permits for the construction of these lagoons, which affect the hydrological dynamics of the basin.
The weekend residences are the breeding ground for sailors who have navigated the waters of the reservoir for decades. They are usually associated with some of the more than 30 yacht clubs and marinas located, now, far from the shore of the reservoir. In its facilities, the problems are of a different nature.
Rosalía Lechuga, manager of the Valle de Bravo Nautical Club, explains that the influx of members who sail on large J24 and J70 type sailboats has decreased. “There is no way to launch sailboats that use keels [pieza que sobresale de la parte baja de un barco]. The partner wants to come and use his toy, but they can’t,” explains Lechuga. At the moment, despite the difficulties, no member has dropped out. On the entire shore around the dam there are hundreds of boats of all sizes, covered with tarps on trailers. Much more than on the water.
The boat that does float next to the new municipal pier is that of Francisco García, dressed in wellies, a cap and a branded light blue polo shirt. He is 38 years old and since he was 18 he has been giving visitors rides on his pontoon boat. For 1,100 pesos an hour, fewer and fewer people hire him to tour the corners of the extensive reservoir, which at 21.1 square kilometers is equivalent to 334 times the Azteca Stadium. “Let’s say that for about four years now it has decreased due to the low level. He really looks sad, he looks ugly,” explains García.
Old times were always better. “On the pier people saw the boats and wanted to get on immediately,” the sailor remembers. Like him, dozens of colleagues from the Zihuaquy Boat Cooperative try to sell services to any unknown person who walks near the pier.
The business around the lake
The people who carry out their activity in the dam are not the only ones who suffer the effects of drought and misuse of water. One of the extreme activities that can be booked in Valle de Bravo is paragliding. Maura Feliciano, 48, manages the company Alas del Hombre. While one of the flight instructors rests lying on a stool, she explains that “clients call and say they want to do more activities during the weekend.” The Water, Air and Land package, which includes a sunset boat ride, hiking and a paragliding flight, is becoming less and less booked because people do not want to cross a half-empty reservoir.
There is no employment data in the municipality of Valle de Bravo, but Paul Rojas, 35-year-old manager of the Chile, Mole y Pozole location, explains that they have gone from seven employees to four in the five years he has worked there. The restaurant, now on the third or fourth line of the reservoir, “has dropped a little” in its diners. “On the Day of the Dead bridge, people did come, but not as many as other years,” Rojas laments. He hopes that with the migration season of monarch butterflies, which come to Valle de Bravo and other parts of Mexico from late November to February, they can once again have a town overflowing with tourists.
In the La Velería building, next to the pier, there is a huge queue outside the regional employment office. Six boys drink canned beer while waiting for a visitor to rent them an RZR SUV to explore some of the places in the Valle de Bravo Protected Natural Area.
Next to what used to be the shore of the reservoir, everything is holiday apartments or large chalets. Inside, around the Plaza de la Independencia and under the high walls of the parish of San Francisco de Asís, you can understand why this place is a Magical Town. The cobbled streets are walked by the local population, who mixes with fewer and fewer tourists.
Agustín Abraham is with his wife under an umbrella selling crafts from Valle de Bravo. “Before, foreigners came, now only people from Mexico come,” he explains. They have attended some of the demonstrations along with the rest of the Vallesans to ask for solutions for the reservoir. As he says it, it starts to rain.
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