MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico City’s drought and water shortages are so severe that a fire broke out in one of the capital’s rainwater catchments on Tuesday, burning down 75 acres (30 hectares) of dead vegetation. Ta.
The Mexico City Fire Department said in a statement that the fire was under control by late afternoon, but photos distributed by the department showed low-lying basins still covered in smoke.
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El Cristo Basin was hit by a fire that started late Monday on the city’s northwest side. The basin is intended to hold excess water from storm drains.
The city is located in a high mountain valley and has no natural drainage outlets, so sudden inflows of rainwater tend to overflow the man-made drainage channels. Watersheds act as buffers.
Usually green from previous rains, residents have sometimes used it as improvised soccer fields and animal grazing areas in the past.
A severe drought has wreaked havoc on Mexico City. (Fox News)
However, the Central Mexico Valley received below-average rainfall in 2023. The situation is so dire that the Kutsamara reservoir on the outskirts of the city is at about one-third of its capacity, with some reservoirs reaching 30%. A network of three reservoirs supplies about a quarter of the water to more than 20 million residents in the Mexico City metropolitan area. Most of the rest is provided by wells within the city.
Mexican authorities began restricting water from these reservoirs by about 8% in October and ordered a further 25% reduction in November. It will probably be about three months before we see any significant rain.
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Officials said El Niño and heat waves were responsible for the recent decline in rainfall, but added that drought conditions have intensified over the past four years, causing water levels in reservoirs to gradually decline. .
Research shows that climate change will cause stronger El Niño patterns and periods of reduced rain.
