Rocky Point water situation

[JoseAz]

Anyone have insight into the potable water situation?
I understand the whole colorado river basin is drying up...following all that
Where does PP get their water? Jungle Jim, i appreciate your knowledge on flora and fauna. Any insight into aquifers and such in PP?

it seems someone ran some good sized pipe from the Pinicate area to PP
OOSLIM seems unable to manage their infrastructure but that is delivery not supply
Heard tehy ran a big pipeline down to cisterns down at Encantame

Who controls the water?

 

[playaperro]

Water wells are about 20 km outside of town headed toward the border. You can see a bunch of trees on the east side of road and there is a small sign pointing them out.

 

[Jungle Jim]

Hey JoseAz............

The last time PP got any water from Yuma was two weeks ago when I brought my usual six cases of Crystal Geyser drinking water to Mirador that I buy at Big Lots.

All of the "aquifers" around PP are too salty to drink from which is why the well that Playa mentions above is so far east of town. The Mayan has its own well out east at the base of the mountains. It is the same source that the gold mines used and water was piped via hand made riveted steel pipe all the way down to Bahia San Jorge.

The Mighty Colorado River just two blocks from my home is reduced to a greenish brown fifty foot wide two foot deep chemical and mineral laden soup that can't even be used in agricultural fields. What's left is diverted by the Morelos Dam at Los Algodones BC and directed into a canal the supplies ag water for the Mexicali valley. A moronic boondoggle developed as part of payback to Mexico for the water that no-longer reaches the Sea of Cortez properly known as the Desalinazation Plant here in Yuma. That plant takes the salt and chemical laden runoff water from the fields and supposedly "cleans" it up then dumps it into the river just before it reaches the dam. That amount of water does not meet the agreement with Mexico so there is a system of wells and huge pumps that suck out the last of our water table here and in turn dumps all of that clean water into the river as well.

Ninety five percent of the Colorado River is diverted into the All American Canal about fifteen miles north of Yuma. That water supplies the agriculture needs of the Imperial and Coachella valleys in SoCal.

The water in Yuma is so bad that no one drinks it from the tap. Most resort to buying water or have a reverse osmosis system to clean it up like I do.

JJ

 

[Jungle Jim]

As for the flora and fauna requirements in the Colorado Desert of Yuma and Puerto Penasco I'll clue you in.

Obviously the flora is dependent on rainfall and not on a regular schedule. Many plants like the Mesquite and Ironwoods have unbelievable root systems that reach deep into a canyon aquifer past the dry sand and gravel into the very rock bottom where clean fresh water always flows, often from rains many miles away and many years past. Those trees just bloom away as if the current conditions couldn't matter. Then there are the cacti, elephant trees and palo verdes that store water in their swollen trunks. The Saguaro and barrel cactus can go years without rain and still produce flowers and fruit every season.

None of the fauna native to the Colorado Desert depends on liquid water. They can live their entire lives without ever taking a drink of surface water. The deer, bighorns, antelope and rabbits get what they need from the shrubs and trees. Aside from the obvious poop piles one can easily determine who lives in a canyon or wash by taking note of the "brouse line" on the trees. Sometimes the trees look like they have been professionally trimmed up to three or four feet from the ground. That is what brousers do for a living.

Others "make" their own water, AKA metabolic water. They eat, digest and metabolize bone dry seeds loaded with carbohydrates and make enough water that they still have enough in their systems to piss on you when handled. The prize winners of this system are the rodents such as kangaroo rats, pocket mice, tortoises and hundreds of insects like beetles, termites and silverfish.

These animals in turn feed the predators that never drink either. Those would be coyotes, foxes, badgers, snakes, lizards and birds of prey.

Later,

JJ

 

[joanC]

PP water authorities don't agree the aquifers north of the City are too salty to be potable. Most everyone I know in PP drinks it daily, and no longer buy water. And, the series of wells are not really east of the City...due north last time we drove out there.

Has this Jungle Jim fellow actually seen the wells, or actually lived in PP other than as a tourist?

 

[OurForever]

PP water authorities don't agree the aquifers north of the City are too salty to be potable. Most everyone I know in PP drinks it daily, and no longer buy water. And, the series of wells are not really east of the City...due north last time we drove out there.

Has this Jungle Jim fellow actually seen the wells, or actually lived in PP other than as a tourist?

I've often wondered if we could drink the water. Restaurants use it to make ice for our drinks. I've used it to brew coffee, tea etc.

 

[JayT]

For what it's worth, I've been drinking the Puerto Penasco city water (run through a reverse osmosis filter system) for the last 20 years without any problems.

 

[Don Juan]

So does anyone really know about the supply? And it's future ability to sustain PP and the growth? I've heard about desalination plans with US by desemboque.....but that's probably as reliable as the port informations/plans

 

[Old55]

So does anyone really know about the supply? And it's future ability to sustain PP and the growth? I've heard about desalination plans with US by desemboque.....but that's probably as reliable as the port informations/plans

Don , Nimby opinion here by me as Desemboque is the logical spot (because it is close to the NG pipelines headed to Sasabe ) …..this will turn Santo Tomas into a salt sludge mess https://mexiconewsdaily.com/opinion/arizona-desalinization-gulf-of-california/

 

[Old55]

One of the great things ( losts of not so good too) at Santo Tomas is having a real good well. Most people still us bottled or filtered but I have dank it for 16 years now and seem ok….well except being a Angels fan

 

[JoseAz]

We had a big crowd at Las Conchas last weekend. We flushed out way out of 2 tanks of water! Little if no supply coming in from the City/HOA.
Had to haul in. Im just wondering about the overall availability or if the City is just messing with Las Conchas for our portion.

 

[fatboyharley]

We had a big crowd at Las Conchas last weekend. We flushed out way out of 2 tanks of water! Little if no supply coming in from the City/HOA.
Had to haul in. Im just wondering about the overall availability or if the City is just messing with Las Conchas for our portion.

Every summer this happens however with the increased structure building , and increase in swimming pools in town and Las Conchas the water does not seem to go as far as it once did . Conservation helps but is not the answer.

 

[anon2391]

They keep building houses and the governor keeps his Lamborghini. Too bad now the million dollar houses in las conchas running dry. It’s happening now! Many neighbors are currently having their water trucked in. Why pay for hoa and water when none exists!?

 

[audsley]

Here's how it's been explained to me in Puerto Lobos. Agricultural fields pumping east and north of Lobos have created allowed sea water to seep into the acquifer. The Mexican government recommends against drinking the water that is trucked in to Lobos because of its high sodium content. There are certainly other ways to increase salt content such as evaporation from flood irrigation and canals, but some believe the SOC's enormous weight and pressure pushing its way through a permeable acquifer plays a role. I'm not a hydrologist, just telling you what I heard. Rocky Point doesn't have much agriculture nearby, but groundwater pumping for any purpose should pose this same risk if it's in fact real.

 

[Idyllwild]

We’ve been riding our Can Am with a SxS group that is very knowledgeable of the local terrain. We ride all around the edge of Puerto Peñasco. Laguna Shores and beyond, back across Benito Juarez by Barb’s Dog Rescue, and on out by the Airport. Much of this land was once ranches. We commonly come upon abandoned open pit wells, some of them 30 feet or deeper. (And some wide enough to swallow a Can Am). They appear to have been much shallower originally, and then dug progressively deeper as municipal pumping lowered the water table. At some point water was no longer available to sustain operations, and the ranches were abandoned. Salt water infiltration is inevitable in such circumstances.

 

[anon2391]

We’ve been riding our Can Am with a SxS group that is very knowledgeable of the local terrain. We ride all around the edge of Puerto Peñasco. Laguna Shores and beyond, back across Benito Juarez by Barb’s Dog Rescue, and on out by the Airport. Much of this land was once ranches. We commonly come upon abandoned open pit wells, some of them 30 feet or deeper. (And some wide enough to swallow a Can Am). They appear to have been much shallower originally, and then dug progressively deeper as municipal pumping lowered the water table. At some point water was no longer available to sustain operations, and the ranches were abandoned. Salt water infiltration is inevitable in such circumstances.

Salt water is fine, you can build a house de-sal system for less than $1,000. The price many pay for a large plastic tank to store water. The big kicker here is once the water is gone everyone with a giant plastic tank to collect the dimishing returns from the city is useless. Might as well invest in some self-sufficient practices. Build your own de-sal system. The Lord knows that Kiki the previous mayor and Jorge the current one are not doing anything to address this issue.

 

[AZRob]

Did they fix the pump and pipes?

Everyone get the water?

 

[JoseAz]

No, still a crap shoot in Las Conchas. now we are getting worried about the water quality. Our whole family got a stomach bug saturday. dont know if it was water at the house, from one of the restaurants or bars but we are tightening up our cleaning and hand washing.
We ran out on sunday afternoon and had 10kgal hauled in. It looked like it was sucked righ out of the sea. Flushed well!

 

[CheddarBob]

No, still a crap shoot in Las Conchas. now we are getting worried about the water quality. Our whole family got a stomach bug saturday. dont know if it was water at the house, from one of the restaurants or bars but we are tightening up our cleaning and hand washing.
We ran out on sunday afternoon and had 10kgal hauled in. It looked like it was sucked righ out of the sea. Flushed well!

Keep relying on that reverse osmosis. Especially when the goal posts keep changing regarding water quality. Reverse osmosis is useless when different bacteria is introduced to the water supply. Water on water off air in pipes = airborne bacteria your RO systems are not capable of removing.

 

[CheddarBob]

We had a big crowd at Las Conchas last weekend. We flushed out way out of 2 tanks of water! Little if no supply coming in from the City/HOA.
Had to haul in. Im just wondering about the overall availability or if the City is just messing with Las Conchas for our portion.

Talked to a our neighbour in Las Conchas who owns a automotive repair shop and has 4 rental properties he has had no problems with water at any of his properties. Makes you wonder doesn’t it.