The Sea of Cortés Regionespecially the states of Sonora y Sinaloaare suffering from a significant problem due to the increasing scarcity of rainfall, higher temperatures, the overexploitation of water resources and the growth of the population that demands water.
In order to contribute to the search for solutions to the most relevant problems that affect us and to bring the conversation about these issues to the main cities in the region, Sea of Cortez Forum started ForumTalks at Hermosillo y Obregon City.
The speakers were Sandra GuidoExecutive Director of Conselva; Agustin Roblesresearcher at the Sonora Institute of Technology; y Alejandro RoblesExecutive Director of NOS Sustainable Northwest.
Also local civil organizations, Hermosillo, How are we doing?through its president Arturo Díaz Mongeand its Chief Executive Officer, Ernesto Urbina Miranda. Y Cajeme, How are we doing?with the participation of Luis Arturo BarnetcheChairman, and Marco Ivan MarquezDirector.
We need an agenda for water: Sandra Guido
With more than 15 years working on the water issue in southern Sinaloa through Conselva, a civil organization of which she is the Executive Director, Sandra Guido Sanchez stressed the urgency of working on an integrated water management system. water agenda in which all sectors, from the citizens to the authorities, come together.
"Water has been getting out of hand and right now we are in a very, very serious situation in the country, because almost 70% of the rivers have contamination problems, we have depleted aquifers and we are already beginning to feel the impacts of climate change, so we are in a very bad situation," he said.
The expert stressed that the dams in Sinaloa are at 17% with at least five months to go before the rainy seasonThe problem is not that, however, but rather that the scenario in this region of the country by 2050 will be much worse if nothing is done.
"This is a key decisive moment, because this is our future. The official scenarios of the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change are worse.... the truth, the worst scenarios are being fulfilled, so what we do now depends on not having this scenario," he warned.
Guido Sanchez indicated that we must begin to turn our eyes towards nature-based solutions and watershed management is one of them.
He stressed that the only infrastructure on the planet capable of transforming rainfall into rivers and aquifers is vegetation and soil; trees are capable of capturing rain, reducing the erosive effect and channeling it to the subsoil.
"We have measured how much water a single tree can channel. Last year we were measuring these trees in Puerto Vallarta, in five rain sessions they captured between 300 to 500 liters per square meter and each tree was between 50 to 200 square meters", he said.
Unfortunately, at least in Sinaloano government program focused on protecting, conserving, and restoring the green infrastructure.
Four strategic lines for the future of water
Sandra Guido stated that after having listened for so many years to academics discussing this issue and having had so many meetings, Conselva proposes four strategic lines of action for water.
- Protect and restore water production areas in watersheds.
- Efficient and sustainable management of agricultural activities.
- Efficient management of urban public water use.
- Financial mechanisms involving users and government.
He said that Conselva has used a model of intervention in southern Sinaloa that has worked, in which each agenda must be very clear about everything, from knowing the health status of the children, to the health status of the children. water resourcesThe public policies that are operating in the territory to be intervened.
The Executive Director of Conselva reiterated that we are at a turning point in which it is necessary to implement changes, diagnoses and solutions, but we need people who communicate, inspire and mobilize to put them into action.
Green infrastructure against water stress: Agustín Robles
At Obregon City, Agustin Robles MoruaProfessor and researcher at the Technological Institute of Sonora, said that water stress is one of the greatest challenges on the planet, but particularly in this region, as it is an area of low natural water availability.
He indicated that while the water availability In Sonora, the demand for this input continues to increase due to population growth and the increase in per capita consumption.
Robles Morua said that there are innovative solutions to combat the hydric stressamong which he highlighted the following:
- Focus on water demand management using water demand planning tools.
- Implement long-term monitoring systems and make information on critical water availability variables (water tables, runoff, dam levels) transparent, including water metering for all users.
- Reduce current water losses (improve efficiency of major users).
- Implement rain harvesting and rainwater harvesting techniques through green infrastructure in cities.
- Cost-benefit evaluation of new water sources such as desalination and the use of treated wastewater.
The researcher stated that Sonora should replicate the example of long-term planning in other countries. arid regions of the world, such as Arizonaand start with the preparation and implementation of strategies to manage demand and comprehensive strategies to increase the water availability.
"It is very important to keep an updated and accessible record of the hydrological status variables that help monitor a large-scale system (water tables, runoff, recharge estimates, dam levels, extractions). Without data, planning cannot be done," he said in his presentation.
He said that it is also necessary to develop simulation tools to help understand the functioning of the system and to plan future scenarios focused on efficient water management.
