Drought -- National Drought Mitigation Center
Title
Severe Droughts Becoming Recurrent, More Persistent in Mexico
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
February 1999
During recent years, severe and extreme droughts
in Mexico and their consequent water deficits have
become more recurrent and persistent, according to
historic records and the experiences of those who
have lived through these events.
In Mexico, agriculture consumes more than 85%
of the available water. When the available water is
insufficient to satisfy agricultural requirements, impacts
can be acute. In extreme cases, lack of water
has caused severe economic, social, and environmental
crises, and recovery from these crises has
taken much time and money.
The regions that are most affected by drought
have some common characteristics: they are the most
vulnerable regions, they are more productive than
other regions, and they have a greater demand for
water than other regions do. The north, northwest,
and northeast regions, in which are located the most
important irrigation zones and most of the industrial
plants, constitute 70% of the country, but these regions
receive less than 40% of the country’s total
rainfall. The southeast region, constituting 30% of
the country, receives 60% or more of the total rain;
in this part of the country, the rivers are larger with
regular flows, and there are wide humid zones where
irrigation is unnecessary. (Figure 1 shows the main
hydrogeographic regions of Mexico.) The few remaining
nonirrigated areas, which benefit from summer
rains, have also been drastically affected by
drought, because they do not have alternate sources
of viable water or fast response capabilities.
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Published in Drought Network News Vol. 11, No. 1, February 1999. Published by the International Drought Information Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln.