The Cabo San Lucas desalination plant, located on the outskirts of town near the Diamante and Nobu resorts, has been operating at less than 40% capacity, exacerbating the dire water crisis felt by thousands of residents.
Due to problems in the distribution of drinking water through the network of the water supply agency (OOMSAPAS), the manager of the agency, Alejandro Herrera, reported the desalination plant is only producing between 80 and 90 liters per second, which represents 36% of its total capacity.
This month alone, the people took their complaints to the streets and held two protests, which caused a nightmare traffic jam for people trying to get home after a long day’s work.
The streets of the main thoroughfare of Lazaro Cardenas Boulevard and its surrounding access artery roads endured a chaotic standstill, with some getting out of their taxis and Uber transport vehicles, opting to walk to their destination rather than sit in traffic.
Management of the OOMSAPAS in Cabo San Lucas indicated that, despite these limitations, service has been restored in populated neighborhoods such as Cangrejos and Altamira. They've also received support through the Emergency Program for the distribution of free water delivered in the all too familiar water trucks, who usually charge anywhere from $15 - $750 USD for the water they distribute.
Of the 23 neighborhoods registered with drinking water scarcity, the agency reported at least half have managed to receive some water service. Regarding the free water distribution service in tankers, Herrera highlighted that so far 1,800 families have benefitted from his agency's program.
“I can tell you that today we have received 1,500 requests, but 1,800 families have also benefitted directly from this program.”
Following the protests on the fourlane, authorities established communication with affected citizens to try to reach an agreement. However, the citizens pointed out that actions implemented by the authorities have not benefited them, so the protests will continue until a fair compromise has been reached in this dire water crisis.
One saltwater desalination plant in Los Cabos, installed in 2006, cost roughly $165 million USD and should produce drinking water for about one-third of the residents in the Los Cabos area.
Of course, getting the water to some residents has been an ongoing problem of nightmare proportions. Hundreds of homes had gone as long as 20 days without water this year.
“In Miramar, we have had 15 days without water, and we continue to complain of this mismanagement by municipal OOMSAPAS and the desalination plant, which is already becoming obsolete due to lack of timely maintenance. How is it possible that every week the plant stops and is no longer supplying the water we need to survive,'' said Everardo Romero, an engineer living in the Miramar neighborhood with his family of three.
Clara Llanes, who runs an office cleaning services company in the Clinica del Sol neighborhood, also spoke of the 20 days her home had not received water, and shared she was using the dripping water from her air conditioner for bathroom-related flushing needs. She has had to pay for water to drink, bathe, wash dishes and do laundry, from what is commonly known as "La Pipa."
These are the water trucks seen driving all over Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, Todos Santos, La Paz and everywhere else in between. They deliver potable water that is paid for by those that not only truly need it, but more importantly, can afford to pay for it.
Luis Sanchez, a construction worker originally from Guadalajara, said when his 10-unit apartment building near downtown ran out of water two weeks ago, their landlady paid to have a Pipa deliver a full load of 10,000 liters, which amounts to 2,640 gallons.
A week later, everyone at the apartments had to pitch in and order their own water truck delivery because their landlady said she also had problems receiving water at home and could not finance another delivery for her tenants.
The water supply for all of Los Cabos is piped in from aquifers in the Sierra de La Laguna. Five years ago, the Cabo government mandated all major new developments had to have their own desalination and wastewater treatment plants. The government had gone easy on developers in the early years, but realized it had to act once too many developments had dried out too many natural water resources.
Carlos Hernandez, Operations Manager for the Global H2O/Pedregal plant, estimates that there are currently 30 private desal plants operating in Cabo.
A video making its rounds on social media has infuriated residents who counted more than a dozen trucks filling their tanks at a popular well. This indicates to them there is water. It seems the government and local city officials prefer to sell it at a profit. And so, during this calamity, we can only harken back to one of the great intellectual minds in the U.S. and famed inventor, Benjamin Franklin, who once penned his opinion that “When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water.”
