Drought impacts more than 83% of the territory in Mexico, according to HR Ratings

By Pilar Urbina

April 2, 2024 at 9:09 p.m.

In Mexico, during the first half of March 2024, most municipalities face some type of drought. According to HR Ratings, 396 municipalities of the 2,430 analyzed were found without water shortage, this indicates that 83.7% percent of the total is experiencing a water crisis.

In 2016, there were 1,670 municipalities without drought. That is, the number of territories with enough water to survive decreased to more than 76 percent, as indicated by the consultant in its document ‘Water stress and main causes in Mexico’.

In addition to the above, the rating agency revealed that 11 entities will have 100 percent of their municipalities in some degree of drought intensity.

Which entities in the country are most affected by the drought?

According to the qualification of the National Water Commission (Conagua), nine are the entities in Mexico most affected by the drought, among them:

• Chihuahua
• Durango
• Guanajuato
• Hidalgo
• Queretaro
• San Luis Potosi
• Sinaloa
• Sonora
• Veracruz

The field must look for strategies in the face of drought

Since the agricultural sector is considered the main consumer of water in Mexico, HR Rating indicated that strategies must be sought to increase investments towards sustainable agriculture.

Furthermore, he maintained that to maximize efficient use, improve soil retention and food quality, it is necessary to implement: drip irrigation, precision agriculture, crop rotation, rainwater harvesting, use of organic fertilizers, as well as the soil conservation.

Actions to reduce the impact

In this sense, the consultant mentioned that it is important that the entities in charge of supplying water make investments to improve hydraulic technology, and thereby make drinking water distribution networks more efficient.

He shared other actions that will help reduce the impact of the water crisis in Mexico:

• Investments in rainwater collection and storage.
• Carry out educational campaigns about the importance of conserving water.
• Adopt responsible practices among the population, the private and public sectors.