BajaNomad

Tijuana Pays a Price for Water Scarcity

mtgoat666 - 6-17-2022 at 07:19 AM

Baja has it rough
https://voiceofsandiego.org/2022/05/24/san-diego-pays-a-lot-...

One wonders when San Diego or other areas in western usa will suffer water shortages like in Tijuana….



BajaBlanca - 6-17-2022 at 07:51 AM

Sounds like the situation in TJ is dire.

bajatrailrider - 6-17-2022 at 08:18 AM

Most all Northern Baja is water shortage for many years now . Years back I put in 4,000 gal Pozo and 1hp pump. So far I have not had to buy water from water truck. City water could be off for a week now they have a new well. A large rancho give it to city only because has slight salt in it. So for my cats and dogs now only bottled water. For now water comes on a hour per day. The poor do suffer as no pozo or pump. When they leave for work in morning they have 50 gal plastic tank. They take garden hose turn on hope its full when they return. So its not just TJ

SFandH - 6-17-2022 at 08:47 AM

I wonder how much water is used by Valle de Guadalupe to grow grapes. Seems like a frivilous use of precious water.

Drink beer!! Or California wine if you must.

Also, couldn't TJ just shut down the water supply that flows down to Rosarito Beach. That would help. ;)

[Edited on 6-17-2022 by SFandH]

sancho - 6-17-2022 at 09:45 AM

That water situation has me spooked. The Colorado River,
Lake Mead, Las Vegas area reported as bleak. The Cape
region of Baja, I assume they rely on ground water, what
is it, 90 mi. from Pacific to the Cortez? Seems to be a limited
amount of underground water at the end of an 800 mi.
peninsula?

bajatrailrider - 6-17-2022 at 10:01 AM

I my area all grape ranchos that is cause of little water for city

JDCanuck - 6-17-2022 at 10:35 AM

Quote: Originally posted by bajatrailrider  
I my area all grape ranchos that is cause of little water for city


I hear the same from those I know in La Paz area, that the big problem is massive growth in agricultural demand. The recent increases in residential building can't be helpful either. Looks to me like this will be the big challenge moving ahead.
Here in rainforest west coast of Canada, we are increasingly capturing excess rainwater and storing to reduce water usage, I have only 2000 liters of storage and estimate another 98,000 liters per year goes to waste storm drainage from my roofs alone.

JZ - 6-17-2022 at 10:36 AM

That doesn't sound good.

AKgringo - 6-17-2022 at 10:53 AM

In the part of California where I am right now, floods, and droughts are not only common, but are pretty much an annual event.

In October of 2021, the rain gauges around the part of the county where my property is located recorded 10 to 12 inches in a 24-hour period! Then the drought resumed until Christmas day when a near record snowstorm put down trees and powerlines all over the county. Ten days with no power at my house!

It is kind of hard to harness that kind of precipitation.

TMW - 6-17-2022 at 11:42 AM

Here the city keeps putting in trees along the streets and highways near new developments which means water lines to water them and we're in a drought. Not very smart and they're asking home owners to reduce their water use.

JDCanuck - 6-17-2022 at 11:44 AM

Wouldnt it be wonderful if we learned to capture those excess events and redirect it to our declining underground storage aquifers where possible, instead of allowing it to erode the land as it rushes back to the ocean?. Might even have a positive effect on the rising sea levels we keep reporting. Farmers did this for millenia to enhance irrigation and water storage for both crops and animal use before the lawyers decided they were all wrong and had to be stopped.

[Edited on 6-17-2022 by JDCanuck]

[Edited on 6-17-2022 by JDCanuck]

AKgringo - 6-17-2022 at 11:58 AM

Quote: Originally posted by JDCanuck  
Wouldnt it be wonderful if we learned to capture those excess events and redirect it to our declining underground storage aquifers where possible, instead of allowing it to erode the land as it rushes back to the ocean?. Might even have a positive effect on the rising sea levels we keep reporting.

[Edited on 6-17-2022 by JDCanuck]


I have four ponds on my property that serve as sediment catching basins, and they slow the water down so that it can soak in and replenish some of the ground water level.

The largest one is only about a half acre, and about 12 feet deep. None of the ponds stay full through the summer, but three of the four sustain a fish population.

JDCanuck - 6-17-2022 at 12:11 PM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
Quote: Originally posted by JDCanuck  
Wouldnt it be wonderful if we learned to capture those excess events and redirect it to our declining underground storage aquifers where possible, instead of allowing it to erode the land as it rushes back to the ocean?. Might even have a positive effect on the rising sea levels we keep reporting.

[Edited on 6-17-2022 by JDCanuck]


I have four ponds on my property that serve as sediment catching basins, and they slow the water down so that it can soak in and replenish some of the ground water level.

The largest one is only about a half acre, and about 12 feet deep. None of the ponds stay full through the summer, but three of the four sustain a fish population.


Gee AKgringo, you seem to have put some thought into this issue, just as my ancestors did. Roman society was especially determined to conquer their water issues, building huge dams, complicated delivery aqueducts and then storing water in huge underground cisterns for both security and convenience. Try to get a flood control/energy source dam built today and past the multitude of delays by the politicians AFTER the Engineers do the design and consequence approvals.

steve5555 - 6-19-2022 at 08:13 PM

I agree with JDcanuck. The environmental quagmire defies common sense. Even for the better good.

Steve

mtgoat666 - 6-19-2022 at 09:41 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JDCanuck  
Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
Quote: Originally posted by JDCanuck  
Wouldnt it be wonderful if we learned to capture those excess events and redirect it to our declining underground storage aquifers where possible, instead of allowing it to erode the land as it rushes back to the ocean?. Might even have a positive effect on the rising sea levels we keep reporting.

[Edited on 6-17-2022 by JDCanuck]


I have four ponds on my property that serve as sediment catching basins, and they slow the water down so that it can soak in and replenish some of the ground water level.

The largest one is only about a half acre, and about 12 feet deep. None of the ponds stay full through the summer, but three of the four sustain a fish population.


Gee AKgringo, you seem to have put some thought into this issue, just as my ancestors did. Roman society was especially determined to conquer their water issues, building huge dams, complicated delivery aqueducts and then storing water in huge underground cisterns for both security and convenience. Try to get a flood control/energy source dam built today and past the multitude of delays by the politicians AFTER the Engineers do the design and consequence approvals.


We don’t need dams. What we need is conservation and population control. Eliminate golf courses (it’s a stupid game anyways). Stop growing stupid water-wasting crops like almonds in Central Valley.

JDCanuck - 6-19-2022 at 10:24 PM

Dams were all about conserving storm rain waters and then controlling the flows for more consistent and higher agricultural production. Energy was a byproduct that paid again for all the other benefits. There is a simple reason Norway has 99% renewable energy and British Columbia has attained over 95%. It was applying common sense to the issue.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=16891

Which group have you decided should be prevented from bearing children to control the population? Almost all of the wealthier nations are already under stable population growth and presently rely on immigration, both legal and illegal to maintain their lifestyles.

[Edited on 6-20-2022 by JDCanuck]

[Edited on 6-20-2022 by JDCanuck]

mtgoat666 - 6-19-2022 at 11:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JDCanuck  
Dams were all about conserving storm rain waters and then controlling the flows for more consistent and higher agricultural production. Energy was a byproduct that paid again for all the other benefits. There is a simple reason Norway has 99% renewable energy and British Columbia has attained over 95%. It was applying common sense to the issue.

Which group have you decided should be prevented from bearing children to control the population? Almost all of the wealthier nations are already under stable population growth and presently rely on immigration, both legal and illegal to maintain their lifestyles.

[Edited on 6-20-2022 by JDCanuck]


Dude,
Hydroelectric and dam storage is a fantasy in desert SW and baja! Why are suggesting dams and hydroelectric will make desert be like wet places like Norway and BC?
Are you smoking crack?

JDCanuck - 6-19-2022 at 11:44 PM

You may not be aware we are presently expanding our northern hydro dams so we can continue to meet the growing demands in the US including California and Utah. It was a huge battle against those who felt we should just stop selling hydro power to the US instead, but the initial approval has been upheld, despite the protests.
One more victory for common sense.

mtgoat666 - 6-20-2022 at 06:13 AM

Quote: Originally posted by JDCanuck  
You may not be aware we are presently expanding our northern hydro dams so we can continue to meet the growing demands in the US including California and Utah. It was a huge battle against those who felt we should just stop selling hydro power to the US instead, but the initial approval has been upheld, despite the protests.
One more victory for common sense.


How is that going to alleviate water shortage in Tijuana?

PaulW - 6-20-2022 at 08:19 AM

Meanwhile valley Chico has reportedly a very large aquifer that is mostly untapped. Good for the small development for San Felipe and projects further south. The usability depends on continued function of the wells, pilas, and pipe systems. Water continues to be mostly home delivery by truck, but several developments and the San Felipe town have piped city water at very low cost.
The San Felipe town, the north Ejido now have piped city water like several developments, otherwise the rest are using trucked water. Cost is very reasonable for good treated city water.

JDCanuck - 6-20-2022 at 08:22 AM

I noted a huge amount of erosion and flooding across roads in storm season even in Baja when the rains did hit. What I did not see was any attempts to contain and store it for agricultural, power generation or general non-potable use as we do up here. Here is a recent article that studied the ongoing deterioration in Mexico city and suggested several solutions:
https://earthandhuman.org/mexico-water-problems/
Many of those solutions are also applicable to Baja

[Edited on 6-20-2022 by JDCanuck]

JDCanuck - 6-20-2022 at 08:45 AM

Wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation purposes is the most attractive of those solutions for me locally, and we have already put that in place at our home. Next would be capturing what little rain does fall on hardened surfaces we have created and reusing it rather than letting it erode the surrounding terrain with no beneficial purpose.

BajaTed - 6-20-2022 at 09:30 AM

In Orange County CA, the Santa Ana river water shed is managed so that the length of the river is a percolation basin.

L.A. chose to pave their river bottom , the OC did not.

Flood control

AKgringo - 6-20-2022 at 09:58 AM

Much of the Sacramento River basin would be un-manageable for housing, commercial or industrial use, and high risk even for agricultural use if it were not for the dams on many of the Norcal rivers!

Almost all of the rain we received this year in Nevada County came in two storms. Even though we are in another drought year, it is very likely that the valley would have flooded, and have no stored water to lessen the effects on the eco system and the people who live here.

Don Pisto - 6-20-2022 at 10:46 AM

convert tijuana's entire city water system to saltwater, everyone uses bottled water for cooking and drinking anyway let em shower and flush their toilets with saltwater. I've never had a problem with a salt water shower and I bet these folks wouldn't either.:coolup:

JDCanuck - 6-20-2022 at 10:47 AM

Quote: Originally posted by bajatrailrider  
Most all Northern Baja is water shortage for many years now . Years back I put in 4,000 gal Pozo and 1hp pump. So far I have not had to buy water from water truck. City water could be off for a week now they have a new well. A large rancho give it to city only because has slight salt in it. So for my cats and dogs now only bottled water. For now water comes on a hour per day. The poor do suffer as no pozo or pump. When they leave for work in morning they have 50 gal plastic tank. They take garden hose turn on hope its full when they return. So its not just TJ



That's a huge storage tank for a residence! Can I ask what the source of your water is? Municipal supply only, or do you add to it with rainwater capture? I looked at my family's place in La Paz and suggested they capture rainwater as well, their two small rooftop tanks don't hold much in reserve at all. Their roofs are multi-sloped and their much larger cement surface out back would be a lot easier to capture from.