Drought impacts Charco del Ingenio

Drought impacts Charco del Ingenio in San Miguel de Allende: species abandon botanical garden

Published May 17, 2024

The Presa de las Colonias dam has completely dried up, causing several species to abandon El Charco del Ingenio in San Miguel de Allende.

In the botanical garden and nature reserve of Charco del Ingenio in San Miguel de Allende, plants and animals are suffering from the drought, because the Las Colonias Dam, which until a few days ago still had a little water, has dried up completely.

The drought was something foreseeable, says Mario Hernández, director of the reserve and president of the Mexican Association of Botanical Gardens, who emphasizes that in recent years there have been climatic changes that are not taken into account and that are due to production and consumption patterns.

In spite of the fact that the nature reserve has a lush vegetation that allows ecological functions to continue their course, in recent days the dehydration of some species has been evident, as in the case of the mesquites and huizaches, which did not flower this year.

Birds change their nesting sites and species abandon Charco del Ingenio in San Miguel de Allende

As the last vestige of water in the Las Colonias Dam has been consumed, migratory birds have changed their nesting sites and species such as coots, coots and sandpipers are no longer seen in the area, even roadrunners, which were abundant in the area, are now difficult to observe.

This year the drought has been prolonged, since 2023 the average rainfall was below the annual average, which affected the capacity for food production and the regeneration of vegetation, which serves the function of providing oxygen and retaining moisture, in addition to being a refuge for many wildlife species.

“We should be alarmed and directing all our efforts to try to stop this moment we have reached (…) What is affecting us is the absence of effective public policies to regulate the major polluters,” says the director of the botanical garden.

Reforestation under ecosystemic criteria can help the planet.

According to Mario Hernandez, the effort that each citizen makes from their homes, little or nothing contributes to stop the deterioration of the environment as long as there is no regulation for large companies. However, reforestation actions under ecosystemic criteria can help to cool the planet.

“It is urgent to help the earth to cool down (…) we need to generate reforestation with native vegetation,” he said.

However, in the region, priority has been given to planting foreign species because they are more aesthetic, which generates more expense in their maintenance and an ecological problem in the long term.

“Everyone wants olive trees, ficus or jacaranda, these are decisions that people make on a whim and are a reflection of the fact that we look down on what we have because it seems ordinary to us,” he said.

Planting agave and grapes increases the environmental problems in Guanajuato.

The director of Charco del Ingenio acknowledged that governments are guided by aesthetic criteria when carrying out works or reforestation, which is regrettable because even in accesses to the city there are no representative elements. Another problem is forced cultivation for commercial purposes.

“Now we see these monocultures, such as agave and grapes, where they say ‘we have to clear all the scrub of huizaches, mesquites and nopales to put a vineyard’, this adds to the environmental problem.”

Species of the region:

Mesquite, huizache, palo dulce, san pedro, ocotillos, senna racemosa, colorín and fraile.

Source (sp) […]