June 26, 2015 at 22:20:06Very different was the landscape Emilio Lopez Zamora Dam in May 2013, when the National Canoeing Olympics where 19 teams from different states participated was held.
In the past two years it has consumed more than 90 percent of stored water due to adverse weather conditions in the region. The drought that occurs in Baja California and California (EU) damaged more severely to residents of the municipality of Ensenada who from day to day saw reduced consumption by more than 50 percent in both the domestic sector and the commercial.
There are about 80 athletes boating in Ensenada, ranging from seven years of age, who make up the team, which saw them gradually its training site narrowed.
The forecasts for this year and the following are unfavorable, as the rains that feed the glass of the dam are increasingly scarce. For athletes there are other options, such as moving the equipment to the sandy beach tab Estero Beach, recommended it for experienced swimmers, or travel to Tijuana to train at the Presa El Carrizo.
Milking continues
Since 2012 the State Commission of Public Services Ensenada (CESPE) initiated a program tandeos areas- -racionar the water that is maintained throughout the city, serves to supply the commercial and residential area.
Atypical rains that occurred last May allowed the basin to recover and at this time are extracted from 25-30 liters per second from the surface.
Meanwhile, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) stays out of the critical situation, and although the Business Coordinating Ensenada (CCEE) and the City of Puerto Council have asked the federal agency to take desazolvar the surface, which represents a huge investment, the federal agency has opted to wait forecasts.
The situation is so delicate that Sergio Romero Montes de Oca, head of the Fire Department of the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR) in Baja California, warned that the helicopter to fight fires that arrived Sunday June 14 will not draw water from the dam in case of an emergency.
Although the president of the State Association of Boating and holder of a fraction of the dam for the next 96 years, José Luis Espinoza, defends the activity in the last Olympics held in Monterrey he left them 48 medals, including three gold, calculated that at this time there is a depth of 9 meters, enough so that new generations can train minors without problem. As part of the activities of the team it is to keep the area clean and commitment to improving the situation of the pond.
Existing equipment
The director of the Sports Institute (INDE), Saul Castro Verdugo, said the team of boating began in Ensenada but over the years has grown to Tijuana, so work through the High Performance Centre (CAR).
During the early years practitioners using the tab on the beach Estero Beach, where there are more waves and currents which are challenges for athletes.
Although the 2013 Olympics crowned as a major force at national level, over the years, in 2014 and 2015, began to receive less water and was when they began to lose the space of the dam.
In the case of the group trains in Tijuana Dam El Carrizo, but some accidents that have occurred in the area they have resulted in being banned access for a period of time to maintain the safety of people.
“In the specific case of Ensenada it was difficult, really made a great effort, but we lost a space that had regularly practiced. The best conditions for practicing this sport are in a dam, or a natural or artificial lake, but it is what it is, “he described. “The important thing is not to stop practicing the discipline, they will not be the best conditions because the dam was very good.”
He lamented the situation that occurs in the glass of the dam, but did not rule out the possibility of improving the sites for practice at sea, which resolved as the swing, because they know the problems that need to create a mirror of adequate water needs.
The dam
Emilio Lopez Zamora dam was built in 1976 with a storage capacity of 3 million 600 thousand cubic meters with a dump of 34 meters and a rainwater harvesting area of 54 hectares.
In 2007 an opinion from the proposed declaration of Protected Area of Municipal Ecological Zone Doña Petra Canyon and Dam Glass Emilio Lopez Zamora was published.
The flat surface of the dam, where more than half is mud and dirt, is suitable for land invaders so the federal agency prefers to keep intact soil conditions.
Slow progress
Among the plans established by the State Government to supply water to the city is building a plant des-Salt seawater which will begin operating in 2017-2018. Besides the construction of an aqueduct to bring water back flow from the mission to the urban area of Ensenada, and the digging of a well in the area of Doña Petra Canyon.
None of the projects has been crystallized and while families are left up to two weeks without the supply of the vital liquid, so little water that reaches the dam is removed worse meet demand.
In recent days the governor Francisco Vega de Lamadrid met with Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Juan Jose Guerra Abud, and Conagua director, Roberto Ramirez de la Parra, to track infrastructure projects water.
The meeting again water issues and infrastructure projects were addressed to ensure supplies in San Quintin and Guadalupe Valley. But still undetermined date in the short term to improve the drought in Ensenada.
EXPAT in BAJA Mexico 