Six of the 18 municipalities of Queretaro are in exceptional drought in the state, while 11 are in extreme drought, according to the drought monitor of the National Water Commission (Conagua).
The municipalities with exceptional drought are Pinal de Amoles, Arroyo Seco, Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros, Peñamiller and San Joaquin, of which the last two were in extreme drought as of 2023.
In extreme drought are the municipalities of Cadereyta de Montes, Colón, Ezequiel Montes, Huimilpan, El Marqués, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, San Juan del Río, Tequisquiapan and Tolimán.
While Corregidora is the only one that is in severe drought, as of January 15 of this year, a level similar to that of December 31, 2023.
According to environmentalist Pamela Siurob Carvajal, Queretaro will face a more severe drought in the coming years due to climate change and various meteorological effects such as La Niña.
“Since 2023 we have been seeing that there is an intense drought in this area of Mexico, and it does not surprise us because it is part of climate change and several aspects came together, last year with the Niño and, apparently, according to the forecasts, this year will be the same or denser than last year,” she said.
She recalled that some time ago the need to have forested spaces or areas with plant mass that allow attracting rain to the entity was warned; in addition, she stressed that it is important to regulate the authorization of land use changes, since with these green areas that help cope with the drought are being lost.
“If we lose more forests and more areas with plant mass, we are losing the opportunity to have humidity, as it is said in the village, the forests attract the rain,” she pointed out.
Siurob Carvajal urged the authorities to recover plant mass and avoid soil degradation, as she insisted that the drought is affecting the dams that are at a maximum of 25% of their capacity, which will increase the mortality of domestic and wild species.
“This is climate change and what we must warn is that it happened on the continent, in the southern hemisphere, and the same thing that happens in the southern hemisphere will happen to us, there is drought, there are fires and when it rains there are big rains that cause floods, etcetera,” she concluded.
Source: Diario de Queretaro
