Lake Level

According to INFORMADOR:
"Chapala, Jalisco (17/FEB/2012.) - Although the level of Lake Chapala has increased two inches with the rains of recent days, the forecast of the State Water Commission (CEA) for the dry season of this year does not look encouraging.

According to an analysis of the historical behavior of the glass lake, it is expected that the natural water body's largest fall between 1.3 and 1.4 meters. All depend on the time that the temperatures remain below 28 degrees............
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.informador.com.mx/jalisco/2012/357917/6/esperan-descenso-de-hasta-14-metros-en-el-nivel-del-lago-de-chapala.htm&usg=ALkJrhjxHTSqIpnqzVxCZ9WIlKPo1uENgg

Let's hope that their projections are wrong as the Lake is so much nicer when full!

[quote="CheenaGringo"]According to INFORMADOR:
"Chapala, Jalisco (17/FEB/2012.) - Although the level of Lake Chapala has increased two inches with the rains of recent days, the forecast of the State Water Commission (CEA) for the dry season of this year does not look encouraging.

According to an analysis of the historical behavior of the glass lake, it is expected that the natural water body's largest fall between 1.3 and 1.4 meters. All depend on the time that the temperatures remain below 28 degrees............
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.informador.com.mx/jalisco/2012/357917/6/esperan-descenso-de-hasta-14-metros-en-el-nivel-del-lago-de-chapala.htm&usg=ALkJrhjxHTSqIpnqzVxCZ9WIlKPo1uENgg

Let's hope that their projections are wrong as the Lake is so much nicer when full![/quote]

Not really.

Many reading here do not remember the lake whan it was truly in recession. At that point in time in 2001, we had three huge mastinos and used to take them on extended walks from our home inn West Ajijic to San Juan Cosala and then back to La Floresta, a distance of several kilometers. That walk was made more beautiful by mature trees and bushes, cattle herds and numerous truck farms. There was also a road allowing one to drive from San Juan to La Floresta and a fine and fun drive that was in Bubba´s old pickup truck. We observed the lake refilling to its present capacity less some decline in about 2004. Tha was a fun experience but marred by the loss of our splendid hiking trails.

Everything in nature is cyclical and environmental phenomena are bound to change over time. If one reads the old book from the 1940s about Ajijic by the writers calling themselves Dane Chandon, one sees a section describing their trip to Lake Sayula and in the 1940s it was predicted that Lake Sayula would dry up and that that fecund agricultural valley would revert to desert. Well, that lake did dry up in the years to come and that valley is today among the most productive agricultural regions in Mexico subsequent to the disappearance of the lake many years ago. So much for expert advice.

Mr. Dawg, we know the climate in the area is partially controlled by the lake. Was the climate any different (less wind, larger variances in temperature???) when the lake was much lower than present?

CanuckBob wrote:Mr. Dawg, we know the climate in the area is partially controlled by the lake. Was the climate any different (less wind, larger variances in temperature???) when the lake was much lower than present?

That´s a good question, CB. Our gut feeling is that it seems about the same now but, frankly, that is a subjective judgment based on personal prejudices. There certainly seems to be no significant change in the climate. The predictions that the area around Lake Sayula would become a desert wasteland once the lake dried up seem off base here some 70 years later but, who knows. Back in South Alabama we described an expert as someone who lived more that ten miles away from the courthouse. By that definition, Dawg is an expert in Jocotepec but not in Six Corners.

I was living in the village in 2000-2004 full time & still visit infrequently..I have not noticed any difference just fewer mosquitos

Obviously the farmers get water brought in or it rains in what was
Lake Sayula. The Imperial Valley in California looks pretty good for
a place that doesn't rain much. We have an expression in dry western
United States. Liquor is for drinking and water is for fighting over.
Water is coming from somewhere to keep the crops alive. I bet
the lake bottom is good good soil.

Z

interesting... and foreboding


MEXICO CITY -- In a plaza next to one of this city's most important shrines, the colossal Monument to the Revolution, a humble water pipe has become a curious monument of its own to what is, literally, Mexico City's continuing collapse.

Flush with the ground in 1934 when the Monument to the Revolution was built, the water pipe now soars 26 feet into the air. Why? Firmly anchored in a hard layer of subsoil beneath the city's shallow aquifer, the pipe has stayed put in the last six decades while the city has fallen away.

Mexico City is sinking. So much water has been pumped out from the aquifer beneath it to satisfy the metropolitan area's 18 million residents that the ground is collapsing underfoot at a stunning rate.

Many cities have experienced subsidence. The most famous, Venice, has sunk about 9 inches during the 20th century as its water table has dropped. But from here Venice's problems seem marginal. Mexico City has sunk 30 feet.

This should stir debate amongst scholars & dullards alike...

OK... I'm gonna help ya along...

If'n I buy a 20 storey building in Mexico City....
In 20 years or so...
Do I own the Fish living in the first three floors??
Or do I halfta buy a fish'n license???

I have been living here since March 2001 when the Lake looked like it was going to dry up. From the shoreline out to the water was 300 - 400 yards. People had cattle there. There was much horseback riding and the Tapatios went over the dry lakebed on weekends with cars and trucks.

Not much was selling back then. There were 1,100 homes on MLS, which makes the 500 or so homes on MLS now look like not much. And don't forget all the MLS listings are not homes, they are empty and sometimes overpriced lots along with the junk neither you or I would live in.

Good luck that the State Water Commission may not be predicting good rainfall. They're about as accurate as every Meteorologist in the US.

hockables wrote:interesting... and foreboding


MEXICO CITY -- In a plaza next to one of this city's most important shrines, the colossal Monument to the Revolution, a humble water pipe has become a curious monument of its own to what is, literally, Mexico City's continuing collapse.

Flush with the ground in 1934 when the Monument to the Revolution was built, the water pipe now soars 26 feet into the air. Why? Firmly anchored in a hard layer of subsoil beneath the city's shallow aquifer, the pipe has stayed put in the last six decades while the city has fallen away.

Mexico City is sinking. So much water has been pumped out from the aquifer beneath it to satisfy the metropolitan area's 18 million residents that the ground is collapsing underfoot at a stunning rate.

Many cities have experienced subsidence. The most famous, Venice, has sunk about 9 inches during the 20th century as its water table has dropped. But from here Venice's problems seem marginal. Mexico City has sunk 30 feet.

This should stir debate amongst scholars & dullards alike...

This is truly one of the most interesting places I’ve come across. This most exceptional city is literally sinking. The Leaning Tower of Pizza is nothing compared to this. We literally stood on the top of a building and could see buildings that are sinking into the ground. They even have areas with covered glass that show where a property that was street level is now six feet below.

The history museums are exceptional and the castle (can’t remember the name at the moment.) with the “Heroes Niño’s” (sp?) is wonderful. The history of this most beautiful city is not comparably to any other. (Maybe Taiwan?) Granted, the days we were there, very little smog. (Yeah, I already know my spelling is really bad but if the information could make a difference to someone than I’m willing to take the ridicule.)