BajaNomad

New Marina

Osprey - 5-21-2015 at 09:12 AM

More Unintended Consequences

There are many reasons the Cabo Rivera Marina and Golf Course project is at a long stand-still. They failed to comply with several provisions of the permit requirements and market forces didn’t help their cause a bit. So, right now, no condos, golf courses or hotels --- that means they are using very little water. The marina home lots are hooked up to city water but there is no service (only one house stands out as a stark reminder of their failure – hundreds of lots were sold and their ownership is murky indeed).

While all that happened, over the last 6 years, Cabo Dorado, near Cabo Pulmo lost their permits and is in suspension too. Part of the reason there was they said they would need 4.5 million cubic meters of water and all of the 8 local aquifers had only a total of 2.5 million cubic meters.

For the last several thousand years natural rain water falling on the Laguna Mountains caused the arroyo San Dionysio to flow above ground ALL YEAR ROUND. Four years ago the housing project at Spa Buena Vista, La Mission, began pumping water to their project directly from the arroyo that feeds several villages (including ours) and since that very day not a drop of water appears now in the arroyo.

Comes now a new project 12 miles to the west: marina, golf courses, hotels, homes and condos known as Anhelo. Too late to argue because they have their permits in place. They say they will have a desal plant but they’ll need a little more water from local aquifers: just under ONE MILLION GALLONS A DAY! That’s about one year’s water use for my little village of 450 homes. I think it’s a given that they’ll simply tap into the pipe that serves the nearby La Mission and shortly thereafter we’ll go on water rationing here.

I think it is safe to extrapolate this chain of events – the water wars have already been lost down here. Each new project will promise new dollars, new jobs while laying waste to all local agriculture and domestic habitation.

Maybe I’m behind the curve on this one – does everybody already know this? Is that the reason nobody’s buying land, homes down here; is that what’s causing the ruinous drop in realty prices here? Can’t blame the business people --- it works in Mazatlan, Cancun, why not here? Because we can’t live with these new improvements when the sky only gives us 7.5 inches a year rainfall, about enough to fill a nice plastic tumbler.

After these developments de-Mexify this little desert, Central America will be the next stop for the developers because it has 45,000 cubic meters per person per year in reserve and a lot more to come from rainy skies.

Whale-ista - 5-21-2015 at 09:18 AM

Agreed. Availability of water and less rain will be a limiting factor in development in many places, and not just in Baja.

On the other hand we may see more hurricanes dumping a lot of water, but not in a very useful timeline.

(At least you haven't had any tropical storms yet, correct?)

Thank you for the update.

grizzlyfsh95 - 5-21-2015 at 09:26 AM

When will the Mexican government learn that if you store water when it comes in torrents you can use it when it doesn't. Pumping from underground water sources is not the most efficient way to get it. Why have they not built a reservoir in those mountains to capture the water when it is there? The entire world uses dams and reservoirs to capture water, and I am not aware of any in Baja Sur. The mountains get water dumped on them frequently, but with the sandy arroyos and low humidity it disappears quickly. I have often wondered why there is no dam above the Santiago arroyo.. wait...4,3,2,1....evil dams etc etc

elgatoloco - 5-21-2015 at 09:31 AM

Stuck on stupid. :no:

Viva Mexico?

Alm - 5-21-2015 at 12:54 PM

Stupid - no. Irresponsible, indifferent - yes. Eventually, stupid too, because environmental damage can't be measured in dollars made (and you can't take this money to the "other side").

Osprey - 5-21-2015 at 01:32 PM

Mexican developers are not stupid and neither are the regulators. Avaricious, complicit, they have, over the centuries laid down a system rife for moving big money around to many pockets; the game hides the crimes until it all unravels and the players are long gone, merely ghosts in haunted places up and down the beach.

Von - 5-21-2015 at 01:52 PM

thanks for reminding me. Ill be building a Huge Pila at my place in Rosarito~ soon :light:

Udo - 5-21-2015 at 06:10 PM

Put in about a 1000 gallon pila.
Quote: Originally posted by Von  
thanks for reminding me. Ill be building a Huge Pila at my place in Rosarito~ soon :light:

Alm - 5-21-2015 at 07:46 PM

I doubt that Central and South America will be the next stop. Not for the reasons of water resources. Developers and speculators are already there. Coastal Panama or Equador, even though mostly developed, are not that attractive. Too much water. Rain every day during rainy season, rain every other day for the rest of the year, and horrible humidity and heat all the time, whether it rains or not. Sure, sure, beautiful rain forest with everything that comes with it - bugs, snakes, tropical diseases. I'll pass.

4Cata - 5-21-2015 at 10:26 PM

1, speaking of failed or failing developments, how would you find out if permits had been issued or even filed for? How do you sort out the unscrupulous from the above board ones? 2. In the case of campos, what protection does an owner have from it being sold out from under them? Also, if there are major infrastructure problems such as water or septic, is there a solution?
Thanks for any advice.

David K - 5-22-2015 at 08:16 AM

Quote: Originally posted by grizzlyfsh95  
When will the Mexican government learn that if you store water when it comes in torrents you can use it when it doesn't. Pumping from underground water sources is not the most efficient way to get it. Why have they not built a reservoir in those mountains to capture the water when it is there? The entire world uses dams and reservoirs to capture water, and I am not aware of any in Baja Sur. The mountains get water dumped on them frequently, but with the sandy arroyos and low humidity it disappears quickly. I have often wondered why there is no dam above the Santiago arroyo.. wait...4,3,2,1....evil dams etc etc



I agree the natural way to have water year round, and not use wells, is through building reservoirs... the dams also provide flood disaster protection saving lives.

There are dams in Baja Sur, but I only am aware of three modern ones other than the small ones built at the Spanish missions:
1) Between Ciudad Constitucion and Mision San Luis Gonzaga (El Inaugal)
2) Near Todos Santos (Santa Inez)
3) Outside of La Paz (La Buena Mujer)





#3: http://ibc.lynxeds.com/locality/nearctic/mexico-northern/baj...

monoloco - 5-22-2015 at 08:37 AM

The dam at Santa Inez was an engineering failure. The ground behind it is too porous and it doesn't hold water.

David K - 5-22-2015 at 08:39 AM

Quote: Originally posted by monoloco  
The dam at Santa Inez was an engineering failure. The ground behind it is too porous and it doesn't hold water.


That's sad! Is there any other attempt in the region?

Osprey - 5-22-2015 at 08:53 AM

There is a large res above San Jose del Cabo (pressa San Lazaro) but it has many problems.

Not easy to build water storage facilities near or in the mountains. The one at Boca de la Sierra fills up with silt after big storms --- they have to empty it, let it dry up (?) and then, only then, dig it out again with heavy equipment. Very costly and difficult for everyone involved.

David K - 5-22-2015 at 09:09 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Osprey  
There is a large res above San Jose del Cabo (pressa San Lazaro) but it has many problems.

Not easy to build water storage facilities near or in the mountains. The one at Boca de la Sierra fills up with silt after big storms --- they have to empty it, let it dry up (?) and then, only then, dig it out again with heavy equipment. Very costly and difficult for everyone involved.


Thank you... !!

"More Unintended Consequences"

Whale-ista - 5-22-2015 at 09:42 AM

Osprey began with this comment. "More Unintended Consequences"

Marinas often disrupt wetlands and marshes, which are nursery grounds for fisheries. So more boats, less fishing opportunities.

Related: yes- Blocking runoff behind dams will create more long term water supply. It will also gradually destroy Baja's beaches & fisheries.

The silt and sediment transport needed to create sand bars comes from streams and rivers, so...block these flows, and no more Sandy shores for future Baja visitors.

Likewise fewer shallow marshes/wetlands, fewer nurseries & nutrients for fisheries, so less fishing opportunities.

Finally, as noted above, poorly designed dams fill with silt and limit storage capacity. And if/when they fail and collapse, the results can de deadly.

Underground pilas are a better, tho smaller, solution. Decentralized, so less costly. Keep some water on site, but still allow runoff to carry nutrients/sand to the sea. Safer in case of collapse/leaks- no downstream flood of water and debris.

Smarter, safer, more sustainable. (I have 400 gallons of rainwater storage in my San Diego yard, and a filter to use it for drinking in case of emergencies.)

Udo - 5-22-2015 at 09:52 AM

Coincidentally, that is about the amount of rain that Los Angeles has gotten on the average per year, and I think LA has several million residents.

Note: I am not trying to compare Los Angeles to any part of Baja as far as usage is concerned, only the amount of rainfall per year.

I also think that it is stupid of the Mexican government to issue permits for developments, when so many other similar developments have failed in the past, and Jorge so wisely makes a note of.
Quote: Originally posted by Osprey  
More Unintended Consequences
Because we can’t live with these new improvements when the sky only gives us 7.5 inches a year rainfall, about enough to fill a nice plastic tumbler.


[Edited on 5-22-2015 by Udo]

monoloco - 5-22-2015 at 10:03 AM

There has been a lot of work in the sierras building smaller gabion basket type retention dams to slow runoff so it can filter down into the aquifers.
https://www.google.com/search?q=gabion+basket+type+dam&c...



[Edited on 5-22-2015 by monoloco]