How Does Agriculture Impact Our Water Crisis?
“THE RANCHOS USED TO WORK WITH US TO KEEP NATURE IN BALANCE, NOW IT’S ALL BIG BUSINESS, AND IT FEELS LIKE WE’RE PAYING A BIG PRICE.”
Patricia who, along with her family of 7, live in El Fraile, a community of 132 families located in an area where agricultural production is booming on the outskirts of the San Miguel de Allende Municipality. She recalls when the ranchos were smaller family farms. The owners were good neighbors and acted like part of the larger community. They used to come talk to the community about their plans and work things out.
But, according to Patricia, “Now the new generation has come in. Ranchos have been sold and new ones started. Now it’s all big business and they only care about their profits. The use of water is crazy. They pump water all the time to fill huge reservoirs. If one well doesn’t perform, they just drill another one. When I think about it, it’s not surprising that our well went dry. We drilled it in 1991… you have to go far deeper to reach water today. So now we have absolutely no water at all, and they have all they need.”
The Municipality is bringing in water, but, as Patricia notes, “it’s not close to enough, we’re no longer independent, so it’s not a solution. That’s why everybody here is so excited about this new rainwater harvesting plan….we will be in control of our water again.”
Learn more about the impact of agriculture on our regional water supplies by watching the documentary, Consuming the Future, below.