Drought is affecting over 90% of the territory of four northern Mexican states. According to Conagua’s most recent “drought monitor” report, Sonora, Baja California, Coahuila and Chihuahua face critical situations.
All but 0.1% of Sonora’s territory is affected by some level of drought. Just under half the land area – 49.3% – is affected by severe drought, 32.9% is affected by moderate drought and 17.7% by extreme drought. The 0.1% of territory not affected is abnormally dry, according to Conagua, which declared a drought emergency last week.
Baja California is in a similar situation with 99.7% of its territory affected by drought, while 95.8% of Coahuila is in drought. In the latter state, 5.5% of the land area is affected by exceptional drought, the worst level. Chihuahua also classifies for Conagua’s critical category with 90.1% of territory affected by drought, including 4.1% in the exceptional drought bracket.
Another northern state plagued by a lack of water is Nuevo León, where 41.6% of territory is affected by drought and an additional 53.1% is abnormally dry. The water shortage prompted authorities to take the decision last month to limit access to water to just six hours per day in the metropolitan area of Monterrey.
Source: mexiconewsdaily.com