Frontera
NorteSur
April 2001
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Frontera
NorteSur |
ENVIRONMENT
Water Issues in Nuevo Laredo
José Manuel Suárez López, director of
the Comisión Municipal de Alcantarillado y Agua Potable
(City Sewer and Drinking Water Commission, Comapa), says that
despite low levels of water in the Amistad dam there are sufficient
water supplies for Nuevo Laredo's human consumption over the next
three years.
To insure future water availability Nuevo Laredo is taking a number
of steps. These include a 25% reduction in water flow from midnight
until 6 a.m. The city also seeks to stop water loss due to leaks
in pipes. Currently 30% of the city's water is considered to be
lost. 15% of water loss is due to leaks in the system, 10% is
lost to theft and 5% is lost in Comapa's operations.
The city will also begin drilling 700 meters down into a nearby aquifer that will serve as an alternative source for city drinking water. Suárez said, "We know that there is an aquifer that runs below the El Carrizo ejido that flows into the river near the treatment plant. It is there that we will begin looking for water."
The city wants to achieve a pumping rate of 2,000 cubic meters
per second which is said to be sufficient for all the city's needs.
Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), March 14, 2001.
Article by Gastón Monge.
Solar Panels for the Méxicali Valley
State authorities gave out contracts to companies on February
21 to provide solar panels to 160 families in the Méxicali
Valley. César Mancillas Amador, coordinator for Desarrollo
Social (Social Development), said that the Solar Panel Program
(Programa de Páneles Solares) started as a pilot program
in the south of the Ensenada district in 1999.
Mancillas said that the project's goal is to provide electricity
for all Baja California communities no matter how poor they are.
The indigenous communities of Santa Catarina, La Huerta and Kiliwas
as well as 17 Méxicali Valley agricultural areas are already
being provided with electrical systems.
Source: La Crónica, February 22, 2001. Article by
Jesús Jiménez Vega.
San Luis Cotton Farmers Are Not Using Genetically-Modified
Cotton
Cotton farmers in the area around San Luis Río Colorado,
Sonora will not plant genetically-modified cotton this season,
according to the local office of the Secretaría de Agricultura,
Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación
(Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries
and Nutrition, Segarpa). No reason was given for the farmers'
preference for traditional seed.
The Segarpa announcement also states that local cotton producers are not interested in acquiring genetically-modified cotton seeds even though they have been demonstrated as an efficient means of protection against a number of cotton pests.
Segarpa says that the genetically-modified seed costs the same as traditional seeds but that farmers must pay for the patent right to plant the modified seed.
Last year the genetically-modified cotton seed was planted in the valley and resulted in economic gains for the farmers that used it. The modified seed was purchased locally from a Monsanto vendor.
So far this year 38 cotton growers have received permission
to seed 804 hectares in cotton.
Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), March 28,
2001. Article by Manuel Angulo.