Querétaro, the only state with 100% affected area

Queretaro, Qro. Up to 87% of the territory of Querétaro suffers some degree of drought, between moderate and severe, according to the Drought Monitor of the National Water Commission (Conagua), as of October 31, 2022.

Of the total area of ​​the state, 39.9% is in moderate drought and 47.1% in severe drought; while the remaining 13% is in conditions classified as abnormally dry.

With this degree of affectation, Querétaro is the only state in the country with 100% of its area affected, either due to abnormally dry features or degrees of drought.

In this way, Querétaro is part of the five states that have a level of affectation greater than 50% of its territory: Hidalgo with 87% affectation, Tamaulipas with 81.1%, Mexico City with 74.3%, Quintana Roo with 58.3% and Querétaro with the entire affected territory.

In addition, 23 entities report a level of affectation that ranges between 0.2% (Nayarit) and 48.9% (San Luis Potosí). And only four entities register 0% of affectation: Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Colima and Tabasco.

Regarding the level of affectation by municipalities, of the 18 demarcations that make up Querétaro, 16 suffer from severe drought: Amealco de Bonfil, Pinal de Amoles, Arroyo Seco, Cadereyta de Montes, Colón, Ezequiel Montes, Huimilpan, Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros, El Marqués, Pedro Escobedo, Peñamiller, San Joaquín, San Juan del Río, Tequisquiapan and Tolimán.

The Conagua classification specifies that in severe drought there are probable losses in crops or pastures, in addition to a high risk of fires; water scarcity is common, so it recommends imposing restrictions on water use.

And two more municipalities face moderate drought: Corregidora and Querétaro.

In moderate drought there is some damage to crops and pastures; there is a high risk of fires, in addition to low levels in rivers, streams, reservoirs, troughs and wells, so a voluntary restriction on the use of water is suggested.

Faced with the drought conditions suffered by the state, there is a low level of storage in its water bodies; As of November 10, the seven main dams in Querétaro are on average at 20.04% full, the lowest indicator at the national level.

The La Venta dam, in the municipality of Pedro Escobedo, remains the only dam in the state and the country that is empty.

It is followed by the La Llave dam, in San Juan del Río, which is 13.3% full, while the Jalpan de Serra dam, in Jalpan de Serra, has the highest level, with 98.5% storage.

low water problems

Given the scarce rains that have occurred in the state, the president of the Querétaro Regional Livestock Union (UGRQ) Alejandro Ugalde Tinoco, stressed that contrary to what happens in this 2022, he has no record that the drought will last until the end one year, so they foresee problems of low water.

“I had not seen a drought at the end of the year, we knew that the cold weather is coming, but normally people had sheltered some type of forage, as of today there is none (…) I think that this year we are going to start from January to have a problem quite severe dry season”, he declared.

estados@eleconomista.mx