ZAPOPAN, Jalisco; March 19, 2024.- The Universidad Panamericana Campus Guadalajara brought together Dr. Hugo Briseño Ramírez from the School of Business, Mtro. Rodrigo Navarro Guerrero and Mtro. Carlos Ornelas Orozco, professors from the School of Engineering, in a press conference in which they addressed the topic of "Water scarcity: Drought, awareness and economic impact".
Dry in Mexico?
Carlos Ornelas affirmed that "in our country drought continues to advance.drought continues to advance in our countryespecially at the beginning of this year's rainy season. There may be rains during the summer, but not in a generalized way throughout the country".
In spite of this, the professor from the School of Engineering emphasized that "it is foreseen that the number of meteorological phenomena or tropical cyclones in the Atlantic will increase.The number of meteorological phenomena or tropical cyclones in the Atlantic is expected to increase, as well as the intensity of the rains".and the intensity of the rains as well".
Water bodies that supply Jalisco
Mtro. Carlos Ornelas shared the data compiled by the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) regarding the water supply in Jalisco's dams during the period between March 15, 2021 and March 15, 2024:
- In 2021, the El Salto dam was 90% full; it is currently 88% full.
- In 2021, La Red dam had 45% of its capacity; it now has 40% of its capacity.
- In 2021, the Elías González Chávez dam had 17% of its capacity; it currently has 26%.
- In 2021, the Chapala dam had 54%; it now has 44% of its capacity.
How to be resilient in the face of drought?
Continuing with the participation of Dr. Hugo Briseño Ramírez, he presented some recommendations to generate resilience to droughts in Jalisco:
- Improve information on water: "there isa lack of transparency in the water sector in our country" (quantity, quality and management indicators).
- Diversification of supply sources: "we have a 'Chapala dependency', 60 percent of the supply for our city comes from Lake Chapala. It is not good to depend on a single source of supply, we have three sources of supply but Chapala gives us most of it".
- Rainwater harvesting (green water) - reuse (gray water) - infiltration: "green water is rainwater and gray water can be the water with which we wash our hands that gets dirty, but that water can be used to flush the toilet".
Water: We do not have another Jalisco
Finally, Mtro. Rodrigo Navarro spoke on the subject of water culture in the State of Jalisco. "We have to really become responsibleAs citizens, we have to be responsible for the environment we are in and the water we are consuming.We have to live with this uncertainty and reduce per capita water consumption," he emphasized.
The professor from the School of Engineering suggested some measures to take care of water:
- Reduce water consumption at home: Limit shower time and turn off the tap while soaping up.
- Recycle water: Install water recycling and reuse systems in the home.
- Education and awareness-raising: Learn about the importance of water conservation and share this knowledge with friends, family and community.
The Universidad Panamericana Campus Guadalajara is grateful for the participation of Dr. Hugo Briseño Ramírez, Mtro. Rodrigo Navarro Guerrero and Mtro. Carlos Ornelas Orozco in this relevant press conference that addressed the problem of water scarcity in Jalisco. Their contributions and recommendations offered an integral vision and concrete actions to face this challenge that concerns the whole society.
