Los Mochis, Sinaloa.- With 67 years of age in tow and the ravages of a chest operation that he could not follow up due to lack of money, Abraham Cruz Ayala is forced to travel at least four kilometers a day to be able to ensure that there is water in his house, in Agua Caliente Grande, Choix.
This would be a paradox, since this municipality in northern Sinaloa has the Luis Donaldo Colosio Huites dam, one of the largest in the country, but to show the magnitude of the drought that is hitting Mexicothe reservoir barely saves 13.7 percent of its conservation capacity.
In a climatic phenomenon that has been intensifying over the days and is rapidly destroying the state’s water tables, Abraham approaches an old and rusty well with two large plastic containers in his hands and one more little boy holding on to a long rope that he uses to draw out the water, and he does his homework.
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He knows that he has to do it even if he feels tired or his chest hurts because otherwise he will not have even a drop of water to drink, and it is also good for him to drink because he does not have money to buy even a jug of purified water every week.
Abraham is one of the thousands of people who are suffering from the serious drought in the communities of the highlands of the Sierra de Sinaloa. Although the Municipal, State and Federal Governments have announced support programs for this sector, mainly with pipes loaded with the liquid of life, after a survey it was found that many do not receive these resources.
A life of difficulties
While the lack of rain is destroying the reservoirs of the 11 dams in Sinaloa, which together hold 15.4 percent of their conservation capacity, inhabitants of settlements in the mountains are forced to wash their clothes and bathe in the river or even in streams of water that sprout from the subsoil and that tastes like glory to them given their impossibility of paying water carriers to take them to their homes a trip of the vital liquid.
This is the daily life of day laborers Guadalupe Villalba and María Estrada. Each one with their ailments and ways of life met along the way and today they come together on a daily basis at work and at the sinks, a space from which emerges the hot water that gives the town its name: Agua Caliente Grande, Choix, a where they go to wash their clothes, but also where they and their children can bathe with their clothes on, just as the others point out.
While soaping some pants, María was upset and said she felt angry about this situation, and that is that she stated that drivers from the Choix City Council deliver water to houses and communities where the supply does arrive and they forget about the clamor of the rest of the families, where they really suffer from the drought.
Angelina Aguilar, who had her day off in the blueberry harvest, said that together with her children Raúl and Abigaíl she goes every four days to a semi-dry stream to look for springs and collect water in water tanks for even washing clothes at home because to drinking and cooking is forced to buy jugs of purified water almost every day.
“The water is running out and if there is no help from the government, what are we going to do, the rains are still a long way off,” Angelina commented before accepting the help of Don Álvaro Torres to load the water tank with the hope that the rains will arrive soon. pipes promised by the municipalities, the State Government and the federation through Conagua.
Context: 12 municipalities in Sinaloa suffer from having little water
Squeezing the water that remains from the earth, even if it’s dropper, from springs of hot and clean water or from puddles and lagoons that the same dispute and share fish and cattle that the same human, this is how people live in the towns of the 12 municipalities of Sinaloa that are suffering the effects of a severe drought.
In images that are repeated with increasing frequency, it is common to observe inhabitants of Choix, El Fuerte, Sinaloa municipality, Mocorito, Salvador Alvarado, Badiraguato, Cosalá, Elota, San Ignacio, Concordia, Rosario and Escuinapa transporting either in cars, on foot, in carts or with their own hands and forces the containers with water that they have obtained from their neighbors or from semi-dry wells or waterwheels located kilometers away from their homes. While some assure this, the Municipal, State and Federal Government are indolent because not even a pipe with water is sent to them periodically, continuously, which increases their regret and helplessness in the face of the phenomenon of drought.
The positive
Optimism and mettle in the face of adversity
Residents of communities affected by the drought in Sinaloa accept their reality, although without giving up. They smile and joke about their situation, but hope that one day it will change the landscape and give them a better quality of life.
the negative
Government support is insufficient
Clearly, the resources injected into the towns, communities and ejidos of the Sinaloa mountains to mitigate the effects of the drought are insufficient. More support is required from the three orders of government.
The data
– 50 days are left for June 24, the day of San Juan, when the rainy season officially begins.
– 5.6 percent of its total capacity is stored by the Adolfo López Mateos or Humaya, located in the capital of Sinaloa.
– The oldest dam in Sinaloa is 58 years old: Sanalona, in Culiacán, which began operating on May 8, 1963.
lack of rain
– National Meteorological Service of Conagua calls to take care of the water. Rain forecast until June.
– In Angostura, operations will be implemented to avoid wasting water.
– Cattle ranchers resent the ravages because the production of cows’ milk decreases.
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the voice of the expert
The phenomenon of drought, which has been occurring recurrently in Sinaloa for 10 years, does have a solution: first with the construction of dams in the mountains to recharge the water tables, the wells, something that we are already working on; Another alternative, which is also already being worked on with the National Forestry Commission (Conafor), is reforestation, and lastly, the cloud bombardment that will start in the next few days.
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