In one conservation effort near Cuatro Cienegas, a pool named Poza Escobedo, on the property of cattle rancher Alfonzo Gonzalez, was restored to its original state, leading the area around it to regenerate its humidity and lush flora and fauna.
Day 5 of our on-going article excerpts. Check out the blog again tomorrow for more, or head straight to our website for the remainder of the article.
Water Scarcity Could Deter Energy Developers From Crossing Border Into Northern Mexico
by Keith Schneider
A Desert Oasis That is Drying
There is virtually no surface water available in this part of the Chihuahuan Desert, an expanse of thin pads of grama grass and stands of creosote bushes and mesquite. Coahuila receives little more than 300 millimeters of rain annually (12 inches), according to Conagua. It is the second driest place in Mexico and ranks with Egypt and the Arabian Gulf as among the driest places on Earth.
That is what makes the running streams and desert marshes of Cuatro Ciénegas, a half days’ drive south of Piedras Negras, so rare and such a valuable reference for the ecological disruption and economic dislocation that can occur with mistakes in water supply and use. Until three decades ago the 215-year-old farming community was a farm and business hub set amid a thriving oasis where vineyards and orchards of pomegranate, walnuts, and peaches were irrigated with water drawn from clear, spring-fed streams and pools.
In one conservation effort near Cuatro Ciénegas, a pool was restored, leading to the recovery of riparian vegetation. Despite management oversight since the mid-1990s by Mexico’s national parks agency and designation as an international biosphere reserve, Cuatro Ciénegas is steadily drying up. Photo © Janet Jarman/Circle of Blue.
Outside town, thick stands of marsh grasses grew as tall as a man. In the 1960s, Mexican and American biologists and ecologists began to swarm across the 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres) of desert pools and wetlands, discovering a biological treasure of plants and animals so abundant and distinctive they likened Cuatro Ciénegas to the Galapagos Islands.
Today, despite management oversight since the mid-1990s by Mexico’s national parks agency and designation as an international biosphere reserve, Cuatro Ciénegas is steadily drying up. Vinos Vitali, a winemaker and lifelong resident, told a University of Texas video team, “There used to be a lot of water here and a lot of fruit. Now there’s no water and nothing is left.”
Alfonso Gonzalez, a rancher in town, added, “You’re seeing a crisis now because the water has not been sustainably managed.”