Water crisis in Mexico: 290 municipalities face drought ahead of heat wave.
States such as Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Coahuila and Durango have increased their drought levels after the cold front season. The 2024-2025 cold season in Mexico has not yet ended, but the hot season is approaching, which will wreak havoc on the country’s main reservoirs and dams. The National Water Commission reports that by 15 January 2025, some 290 municipalities in the country were in moderate to critical drought conditions.
The rains from the cold fronts, the second winter storm and the arrival of the ‘Norte’ events have helped to reduce the areas of drought in Mexico, especially in the western municipalities of Chihuahua and Durango, as well as in the border area between Nayarit, Jalisco and Zacatecas.
The Mexico Drought Monitor also notes that states in the north of the country, such as Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa and Coahuila, have experienced an increase in drought, with some areas moving from moderate to extreme drought.
According to the Conagua report, some 32 municipalities are in critical drought and another 79 are in extreme drought. The effects are concentrated in five states: Chihuahua: 16 municipalities in critical drought and 37 in extreme drought.
Sinaloa: 6 municipalities in critical and extreme drought.
Sonora: 5 municipalities in critical drought and 40 in extreme drought.
Durango: 3 municipalities in critical drought and 10 in extreme drought.
Coahuila: 2 municipalities in critical and extreme drought.
Critical drought, also known as exceptional drought, is characterised by widespread loss of crops and livestock, extreme depletion of aquifers and the imposition of mandatory restrictions on water use for human and industrial consumption.
According to Conagua’s Drought Monitor, 65 per cent of the country’s municipalities are facing some degree of drought.
How long will Mexico’s drought last?
Mexico’s dry season began at the end of November last year. According to Fabián Vázquez Romaña, director of the National Meteorological Service, the country’s drought is expected to end in mid-May.
Once the cold front season ends in Mexico, the first heat waves of 2025 are expected to begin between March and April, coinciding with the arrival of spring.
During this period, temperatures are expected to rise significantly, especially in northern states such as Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California, where extreme temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius are expected. In addition, the ‘La Niña’ phenomenon is expected to exacerbate water shortages, prolonging Mexico’s drought and increasing the risk of forest fires.
Source: El Financiero (Spanish)
