Download growing water problems: a case in mexico

tries, such as the Owens River controversy involving Los Angeles taking water from the Owens Valley in the United
States. The fight for water continues to be
a worldwide problem, especially in Africa and South and Central America.
A classic case is occurring in northwestern Mexico. Farmers there are
blocking roads in Sonora following construction of an aqueduct to supply water
from the Rio Yaqui to the capital city
Hermosillo (Steller, Arizona Daily Star,
June 21, 2013). The aqueduct is completed
and water began flowing in March 2013.
Little known outside of Mexico, the
Rio Yaqui drains a huge region. It is the
largest river in the state of Sonora. The
drainage pattern of the river is complex
because of the tortured topography of
the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain
range that runs northwest through the
state. One tributary drains from southern Arizona.
The primary sources of the Rio Yaqui
are in the Sierra Madre where the higher
elevations have adequate precipitation
and low evaporation, providing yearround water flows. As its many small
tributaries join one another, the river de-
GROWING WATER
PROBLEMS: A CASE
IN MEXICO
English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834) penned the famous line “Water, water every where…nor any drop to
drink” in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The quote has been used in many
contexts, but increasingly it describes
populations in developing countries that
find it difficult to access “…any drop to
drink.”
An overview of the water scarcity
problem points to large cities and corporations claiming ownership of traditional water rights from rural farmers and
small villages downstream. Examples
are numerous, even in developed coun-
Water Fight in Sonora
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Geography in the News 7/26/13
100 mi
100 km
© 2013
Sources: Steller, Tim, “Highway shut in Sonora water dispute,
Arizona Daily Star, June 21, 2013
scends the mountains. Farmland lies adjacent to the Rio Yaqui as it enters some
of the broader valleys downstream. Because the climate in these lowlands is
arid to semi-arid, the river is essential for
irrigation of the croplands.
The Mexican and Sonoran governments have built several large reservoirs along the Rio Yaqui in attempts to
maintain adequate flow seasonally and
throughout years of drought. Nonetheless, the amount of water in the Rio Yaqui is finite at any given point in time
and place. As the river approaches the
Gulf of California, its flow is greatly diminished and often nearly exhausted,
causing great concern for the farmers on
the lower reaches of the stream.
Building an aqueduct to Hermosillo
removes water from the Rio Yaqui’s
drainage basin. With more than 30 percent of the state’s population and nearly
all of its manufacturing, Hermosillo is
a modern, cosmopolitan city of 750,000
people. Consequently, Hermosillo commands a strong economic and political
position in the state.
The problem is that Hermosillo is not
located in the Rio Yaqui’s watershed,
but instead in the watersheds of Rio San
Miguel and Rio Sonora. The completed
aqueduct removes water from the Rio
Yaqui’s drainage basin and transports
it to an unconnected watershed to the
west.
With even less water in the Rio Yaqui, it is very likely that the farmers in
the lower reaches of the stream will see
their source of irrigation water literally
dry up. These farmers have few options,
however, since so much of the state’s
power is concentrated in Hermosillo.
Their protests in opposition to the aqueduct have so far included roadblocks and
other forms of civil disobedience.
Such actions against a powerful government call attention to the rights of
underdogs in a fight over the critical resource of water.
And that is Geography in the News™.
June 26, 2013. #1208.
Co-authors are Neal
Lineback, Appalachian
State University
Professor Emeritus
of Geography, and
Geographer Mandy
Lineback Gritzner.
University News Director
Jane Nicholson serves
as technical editor.