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There's also Tepuxtepec Dam on the Lerma.

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This dam is located in the lower part of Contepec, near the limits with Guanajuato and the State of Mexico. It is built on the Lerma River and it took 24 years to complete the works (from 1926 to 1950). The construction was in charge of the National Irrigation Commission. In 1926 President Plutarco Elías Calles forced the Mex-Light company (predecessor to Luz y Fuerza del Centro) to build the dam on the Lerma River, at the height of Tepuxtepec.

http://michoacan.travel/en/places/tepuxtepec-dam.html

The Solis dam hasn't been full since 2018 according to this:

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/conagua-issues-drought-warning/

Here's something about a dam called La Purisima

https://www.ugto.mx/noticias/noticiasrssen/11225-realizan-investigadores-ug-ug-researchers-make-a-comprehensive-analysis-to-know-the-water-quality-and-sediments-in-the-la-purisima-dam-integral-para-conocer-la-calidad-del-agua-y-sedimentos-en-la-presa-la-purisima

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 In the state of Guanajuato, one of the most important dams is "La Purisima". This water reservoir is in the Basin River Guanajuato, within the system Lerma-Chapala. 

Here's something from a water quality study of the Lerma that mentions an Alzate Dam.

Water Quality Assessment of Jose Antonio Alzate Dam, the Lerma River and Its Tributaries in the ...

 

Back when I was still riding I rode through a lot of the hills in the Lerma basin and saw a lot of catchments that had been dammed such there would no longer be runoff towards either Lake Chapala or the river.  For the most part it didn't appear they ever overflowed although a few had crude spillways. 

Here's a place that appears to be in our watershed and the municipality is described as having 18 dams.

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The municipality has 36 springs, seven natural deep wells, 54 arroyos, 18 dams and five aqueducts. The main river here is called "El Oro" or "San Juan" which flows through a canyon between the La Somera and San Nicolas mountains. Its flow varies greatly between the rainy and dry seasons.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Oro_de_Hidalgo

There's that lake as you travel north out of Lagos de Moreno where you can see a dam, I would think that would be on our watershed.

I suspect you both are right.  There appear to be a number of dams that could be "opened" but there are a bunch that can't and won't be.  All affect runoff to Lake Chapala.

Someone who is really fluent in Spanish should be able to come up with some sort of overall map of the Lerma showing all the dams.

Digging for information beats quarreling over insufficient information every time  :D 

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Yes the Tepuxtapec dam is upstream from the Solis dam which you pointed out hasn't been full for at least 3 years. When there is enough water to hit  overflow in Tepuxtape  then more than a small flow heads to Solis.  .The same small flow exit the Solis to the Lerma. 

So as they haven't "opened" the dams gates for 3 years it becomes obvious that the majority of the seasonal water in the rio Lerma is now from the small inflows to the river as it heads west from rain in the Lerma basin.  

La Purisima is not on the rio Lerma and really has no river downstream of it. 

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7 hours ago, Mostlylost said:

Of those 527 licensed reservoirs many do not discharge anything to the river.  The vast majority are only a few hectarias with a dirt "dam" 5-10 meters high.. Think Ixtlauhuacan. They are licensed on small streams that only have water in the rainy season and do not discharge to the river. They are there to extend the growing season by providing water to local agriculture. If anything they prevent water from entering the river and lessen the flow.

On the river itself there are a few weirs that are 3 or 4 meters tall and water flows over those year round.  

Pictured is what could possibly be called a dam near Ibarra in Michoacan. It has no gates to open. When the area behind it is full the water flows over the concrete spillway.  The reservoir behind it is very shallow and dries up to almost nothing in the dry season.

Weir.JPG

527 add up to a lot of water. Some of them are signifcant dams and rivers.

Con agua today added a more recnt lake level to their site still not going up. I have watched the Conagua lake level for years and it might not go up for weeks.

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33 minutes ago, Mostlylost said:

Yes the Tepuxtapec dam is upstream from the Solis dam which you pointed out hasn't been full for at least 3 years. When there is enough water to hit  overflow in Tepuxtape  then more than a small flow heads to Solis.  .The same small flow exit the Solis to the Lerma. 

So as they haven't "opened" the dams gates for 3 years it becomes obvious that the majority of the seasonal water in the rio Lerma is now from the small inflows to the river as it heads west from rain in the Lerma basin.  

La Purisima is not on the rio Lerma and really has no river downstream of it. 

The experts and studies deny most of your arguments.

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1 hour ago, Mainecoons said:

There's also Tepuxtepec Dam on the Lerma.

http://michoacan.travel/en/places/tepuxtepec-dam.html

The Solis dam hasn't been full since 2018 according to this:

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/conagua-issues-drought-warning/

Here's something about a dam called La Purisima

https://www.ugto.mx/noticias/noticiasrssen/11225-realizan-investigadores-ug-ug-researchers-make-a-comprehensive-analysis-to-know-the-water-quality-and-sediments-in-the-la-purisima-dam-integral-para-conocer-la-calidad-del-agua-y-sedimentos-en-la-presa-la-purisima

Here's something from a water quality study of the Lerma that mentions an Alzate Dam.

Water Quality Assessment of Jose Antonio Alzate Dam, the Lerma River and Its Tributaries in the ...

 

Back when I was still riding I rode through a lot of the hills in the Lerma basin and saw a lot of catchments that had been dammed such there would no longer be runoff towards either Lake Chapala or the river.  For the most part it didn't appear they ever overflowed although a few had crude spillways. 

Here's a place that appears to be in our watershed and the municipality is described as having 18 dams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Oro_de_Hidalgo

There's that lake as you travel north out of Lagos de Moreno where you can see a dam, I would think that would be on our watershed.

I suspect you both are right.  There appear to be a number of dams that could be "opened" but there are a bunch that can't and won't be.  All affect runoff to Lake Chapala.

Someone who is really fluent in Spanish should be able to come up with some sort of overall map of the Lerma showing all the dams.

Digging for information beats quarreling over insufficient information every time  :D 

The information is there. I have saved  many articles on studies of the lake.  https://www.google.ca/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ALeKk00rQ0_cd18EX2V09YlFCfLHGrKmWg:1624917667403&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=pictures+of+dams+in+the+tributaries+t0+the+Lerma+river&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj14eqCqrvxAhXOmmoFHYDPAdgQjJkEegQIAxAC&biw=1536&bih=750

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Also good information and highlights just the local dams on the tributaries.

Location of the Lerma-Chapala-Santiago basin. 

 

I haven't been able to find any compilation that lists all the dams on this watershed.  Have you?

It's just damned hard to find all of them.  :D 

Suffices to say the local rainfall has little to do with rise in lake level.  Last year there was simply not sufficient rainfall on the watershed to the east/southeast of here to bring the lake all the way back up.  

 

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16 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

Also good information and highlights just the local dams on the tributaries.

Location of the Lerma-Chapala-Santiago basin. 

 

I haven't been able to find any compilation that lists all the dams on this watershed.  Have you?

It's just damned hard to find all of them.  :D 

Suffices to say the local rainfall has little to do with rise in lake level.  Last year there was simply not sufficient rainfall on the watershed to the east/southeast of here to bring the lake all the way back up.  

 

That is not the best map. I have seen much better ones  that show the watershed of the lake.

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However that same weather station reports the rain in previous years was much higher (2021 4.24in) (2020 4.12in)  (2019 3.52in) (2018 6.45in) (2017 4.72in) (2016 6.03in) (2015 9.48in) which was approximately 35% higher than present in average or more than twice as much in 2015 any of the first three years

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1 hour ago, cedros said:

As of June 29 Conagua reports that the lake has risen 3/10th of a centimeter.

Since when? Don't understand all the discussion about the lake level. It is what it is!!! I have seen it flooded all the way to the train station on my first visit here over 30 years ago and then almost dry as a bone years later. God is teasing us!!! 

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On 7/1/2021 at 1:19 PM, gringohombre said:

Since when? Don't understand all the discussion about the lake level. It is what it is!!! I have seen it flooded all the way to the train station on my first visit here over 30 years ago and then almost dry as a bone years later. God is teasing us!!! 

Since a few days before. The lake level affects everything here. Don't look if it bothers you.

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Gosh, I think most of us would be happier if the lake were closer to being full. I greatly appreciate the heat sink effect it has on the environment, you know, up to 5 degrees cooler during the heat of the day and up to about 5 degrees warmer in the evening than in Guadalajara

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On 7/1/2021 at 6:37 PM, johanson said:

Gosh, I think most of us would be happier if the lake were closer to being full. I greatly appreciate the heat sink effect it has on the environment, you know, up to 5 degrees cooler during the heat of the day and up to about 5 degrees warmer in the evening than in Guadalajara

Yes, the lake level is important.

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1 hour ago, lakeside7 said:

If the level is important (and it is) why is the state not more concerned and start the process of fixing the leaking supply pipes to Guadalajara?!

They are but in order to do that there needs to be a parallel line that can be used while the original one is out of service.  Apparently it needs big time rehabbing.  I understand it is losing a third of the water put into it.  Normal is a few percent.

IMO the folks blocking this are very ill advised.  It is standard procedure in most places to have two lines to allow for service.  Simply repairing the first line would increase the availability of water in GDL by a substantial margin without any increase in withdrawal from the lake.

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