{"id":8173,"date":"2023-07-05T19:53:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T23:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8173"},"modified":"2023-07-05T19:53:02","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T23:53:02","slug":"tijuana-reliant-on-the-colorado-river-faces-a-water-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8173","title":{"rendered":"Tijuana, Reliant on the Colorado River, Faces a Water Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jose Manuel Perez Reyes uncoils a hose as he delivers water to an auto mechanic shop from his water truck Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull) \u2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Luis Ramirez leapt onto the roof of his bright blue water truck to fill the plastic tank that by day\u2019s end would empty into an assortment of buckets, barrels and cisterns in 100 homes.<\/p>\n

It was barely 11 a.m. and Ramirez had many more stops to make on the hilly, grey fringes of Tijuana, a sprawling, industrial border city in northwestern Mexico where trucks or \u201cpipas\u201d like Ramirez\u2019s provide the only drinking water for many people.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach time, it gets farther and farther where we have to go,\u201d he said, blaming the city\u2019s water problems on drought and population growth, before jumping into the driver\u2019s seat next to 16-year-old assistant Daniel Alvarez.<\/p>\n

A man passes an empty water storage building emblazoned with the slogan, \u201cconserve water,\u201d in Spanish, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Jos\u00e9 Lujano, a resident of the Rancho el Chicote neighborhood who stores water tankers and barrels in his home, has a dog attached to one, in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, May 12, 2023. Many residents and pets rely on water delivered by tankers for daily use. (AP Photo\/Carlos A. Moreno) \u2013Carlos A. Moreno\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Jose Manuel Perez Reyes uncoils a hose as he delivers water to auto mechanic shop from his water truck Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull) \u2013Gregory Bull\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A migrant fills up a bucket with water from a cistern as a boy passes at the Agape migrant shelter Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis driven also by aging, inefficient infrastructure and successive governments that have done little to prepare the city for diminishing water in the region.<\/p>\n

Entire neighborhoods on Tijuana\u2019s hilly and sometimes grassy far reaches remain unconnected to the city\u2019s water mains and pipes. Accessing water there is a daily struggle \u2014 and an expensive one, as trucked-in water usually costs much more than what people connected to the city pay.<\/p>\n

Taxi driver Aurelio Hernandez lives in one of roughly 150 houses in a remote development near vast industrial parks that make aviation parts in the city\u2019s south. Dirt roads so steep they seem vertical lead to the village.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the biggest problem we have,\u201d said Hernandez, who has lived in Rancho el Chicote for 20 years, about the lack of running water. Hernandez, his wife and two daughters use about 1,585 gallons (6,000 liters) of trucked-in water per month, he said, which costs about 2,000 pesos or $116. The average U.S. family uses more than five times as much water each month, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, yet pays less, despite Mexico\u2019s much lower wages.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year it\u2019s the same. Politicians come and promise you things, but nothing ever changes,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

A water storage tank sits atop taxi driver Aurelio Hern\u00e1ndez’s home in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, May 12, 2023. Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis. “It is the biggest problem we have,” Hernandez said. (AP Photo\/Carlos A. Moreno) \u2013Carlos A. Moreno\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Aurelio Hern\u00e1ndez, a taxi driver, lifts the lid of a bucket his home in Tijuana, Mexico, where many residents rely on water delivered by tanker trucks, on Friday, May 12, 2023. Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis. “It is the biggest problem we have,” Hernandez said. (AP Photo\/Carlos A. Moreno) \u2013Carlos A. Moreno\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even in middle class neighborhoods, like homemaker Martha Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s in Tijuana\u2019s fast-growing south, neighbors have to share updates on WhatsApp about possible shutoffs and coordinate requests to city authorities when it\u2019s cut.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe state government is trying to bring some relief, but it will take time,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said. \u201cMeanwhile, it\u2019s really hard every time there\u2019s a burst pipe, because they leave us without water for five days.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happened in April, when upwards of 600 neighborhoods \u2014 more than half of the whole city \u2014 went without water while the state water utility known as CESPT in Spanish, repaired leaks in a primary main.<\/p>\n

For some, that shutoff lasted days longer than the official 36-hour estimate. Authorities admitted that given the size of the area affected, they could not send water trucks to many neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Jose Manuel Perez Reyes, right, fills an inflatable pool at a home Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPeople are left without water for way too long,\u201d said Jose Manuel Perez Reyes, who distributes trucked-in water, adding that the government sometimes tells residents the shutoffs are to fix pipes when in reality there simply isn\u2019t enough water.<\/p>\n

Even for the 700,000 users, according to CESPT, that are connected to city water, faucets often go dry, forcing them, too, to pay for trucked-in private water.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like playing whack-a-mole in terms of trying to see where things are going to pop up next,\u201d said Carlos de la Parra, a water consultant and former professor of urban studies and the environment at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte who has studied water issues in northwestern Mexico for decades.<\/p>\n

Water utilities are struggling to keep pace with both Tijuana\u2019s growth, de la Parra said, and about 8 to 10 years of neglect of infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Then, there\u2019s drought. Nationwide, more than 44% of municipalities in Mexico were in drought in May, according to Mexico\u2019s National Water Commission. Tijuana\u2019s challenges are acute as one of the country\u2019s fastest-growing cities in one of Mexico\u2019s most water-stressed states.<\/p>\n

A man delivers bottled water to residences in the Santa Fe section of Tijuana where water shutoffs are common, on Friday, May 12, 2023. (AP Photo\/Carlos A. Moreno)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Augustin Rodriguez gets hoses ready on the back of his water truck as he delivers at a home across the street from a large sign that reads “conserve water,” in Spanish, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull) \u2013Gregory Bull\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Augustin Rodriguez walks with a hose as he delivers water to a home Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull) \u2013Gregory Bull\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Augustin Rodriguez walks from his water truck during a delivery, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In charge of running the water utility in Tijuana is Victor Amador, who, despite the daily struggles for water in the city, denied that taps run dry except when work is being done on the pipes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have problems at the moment,\u201d Amador said. \u201cFor now, we have enough water.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the case in January when Tijuana shut off a water main to perform work and had to request about 540 acre-feet of emergency water from San Diego. (An acre-foot of water is equal to 326,000 gallons or 1.2 million liters.)<\/p>\n

The water \u2014 available during times of acute need, but counted against Mexico\u2019s share of Colorado River water \u2014 traveled through Southern California\u2019s behemoth aqueducts and across the U.S.-Mexico border. Such emergency water transfers have taken place for more than 50 years, the San Diego County Water Authority said, and have been needed every year since 2018 except one.<\/p>\n

More than 90% of Tijuana\u2019s water comes from the Colorado River, traveling west across Baja California and over a 4,000-foot (1,219 meter) mountain pass through a single aqueduct that itself is often under repair. Over the past two years, Mexico\u2019s share of Colorado River water was slashed by 7%, and while those cuts have yet to affect Tijuana, hydrologists and policy experts emphasize that the city and state of Baja California need to secure other water sources \u2014 soon.<\/p>\n

Dense housing developments are visible in the Santa Fe section of Tijuana, Mexico, on Friday, May 12, 2023. (AP Photo\/Carlos A. Moreno)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Water from the Colorado River flows in a canal along a border wall separating San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico from San Luis, Arizona on Aug. 14, 2022, in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite years of promises from federal, state and city officials to diversify Tijuana\u2019s water supply using ocean water desalination and treated wastewater, the city has little to show for it. Amador said the government is working toward developing both.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re living in this drought as if nothing were happening,\u201d said Manuel Becerra, a water consultant based in Tijuana and former city superintendent of public services.<\/p>\n

Part of the challenge for Tijuana\u2019s aging infrastructure is the city\u2019s layout: water is pumped up and down steep hills and canyons to reach developments that have sprawled in every direction as the city has grown \u2014 19% since 2010. Then there\u2019s the estimated 7% of water that Tijuana loses to leaks, according to the state water utility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe topography of the area requires that water is pumped and re-pumped,\u201d Becerra said. \u201cSometimes even though there is water, the pumps fail, the power fails, or the pipe breaks, and service is interrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n

A migrant carries a water jug as he passes a spigot used to fill buckets at the Agape migrant shelter Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On his fifth stop after re-filling his truck, water truck driver Ramirez descended a steep, gravel road to enter a neighborhood with about 100 homes not connected to city water. He stopped in front of a grey, two-story cinderblock home where retired construction worker Jose Trinidad and his wife move water from tank to bucket to bowl for bathing, cleaning and cooking.<\/p>\n

Every month, Trinidad said he spends 1,600 pesos (about $91) for water. After food, it\u2019s his largest expense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend a lot. It\u2019s difficult, but we have to deal with it,\u201d Trinidad said. \u201cWe have no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Suman Naishadham, AP News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luis Ramirez leapt onto the roof of his bright blue water truck to fill the plastic tank that by day\u2019s end would empty into an assortment of buckets, barrels and cisterns in 100 homes. It was barely 11 a.m. and Ramirez had many more stops to make on the hilly, grey fringes of Tijuana, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":8176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/c1f1423\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/8640x5760+0+0\/resize\/2400x1600!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F5f%2Fa7%2Fe65acf6ab6e7f7c16251f2f71ec9%2F4e97c0ba413d44139ff53f8061e4f70a","fifu_image_alt":"Tijuana, Reliant on the Colorado River, Faces a Water Crisis","footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy-infrastructure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8175,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8173\/revisions\/8175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}