Mainecoons Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 There's also Tepuxtepec Dam on the Lerma. Quote 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 Quote 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. 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. Quote 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostlylost Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusMactavish Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedros Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 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. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedros Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedros Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 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. 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 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 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 Also good information and highlights just the local dams on the tributaries. 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. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedros Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 16 minutes ago, Mainecoons said: Also good information and highlights just the local dams on the tributaries. 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. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 True, that one is local and leaves off a lot to the east. But it illustrates there are dams on the tributaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyPanda Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 And just goes to show if you aren't an expert, don't try to win an argument by Googling. I certanily know a lot more about dams around here now, but the water still comes from somewhere and we all know it's not the rain over the lake itself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 Agreed, the water still comes from somewhere and the WHEN it comes gives a pretty good indication of where it comes from... or maybe there's Canadian Beavers chopping down trees upstream. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyPanda Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 ... and the Beavers said "Well, we didn't buiild it, but it's based on our design." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted June 29, 2021 Report Share Posted June 29, 2021 Walked the SJC male on this morning. The water was a little closer this morning than it has been but only about a foot or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostlylost Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 The unofficial weather station in Rio Del Oro reports June was the best rain quantity in 3 years.. {2021 4.24in} {2020 4.12in} {2019 3.52in} Conagua reports that lake Chapala received 31 million cubic meters of water mainly as a result of hurricane Enrique. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johanson Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedros Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 As of June 29 Conagua reports that the lake has risen 3/10th of a centimeter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyBee Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 56 minutes ago, cedros said: As of June 29 Conagua reports that the lake has risen 3/10th of a centimeter. or... 3 millimeters 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringohombre Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 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!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 I think some folks were around during that period when the shoreline was a mile out and it looked like the lake was doomed. I'm told that was pretty unsettling to those who were here at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedros Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringohombre Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 18 minutes ago, cedros said: Since a few days before. Don't look if it bothers you. Doesn't bother me at all...it is what it is!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johanson Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 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 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedros Posted July 3, 2021 Report Share Posted July 3, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside7 Posted July 3, 2021 Report Share Posted July 3, 2021 9 hours ago, cedros said: Yes, the lake lev el is important. 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?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted July 3, 2021 Report Share Posted July 3, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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