López Obrador Reports Construction Progress at Santa María Dam

Mexico’s President López Obrador visited Sinaloa to supervise the construction works of important water projects in the south of the state: the Picachos and Santa Maria dams. López Obrador reported that works at the Santa Maria dam reported a 75 percent progress. 

Through social media, the president said that he also visited the construction of two hydroelectric plants and irrigation canals that aim to support farmers along 45,000ha of land. López Obrador said that Sianloa’s Governor, Rubén Rocha, the Minister of National Defense, Luis Sandoval and the Director of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), Germán Martínez, were also present.

According to López Obrador, the projects are part of a sustainability program to increase CFE’s clean energy supply. Manuel Barlett, Director, CFE, said that the federal government is planning to construct 16 energy-related projects, as well as replace old equipment in approximately 14 hydroelectric plants. 

Federal Deputy Jesús García also paid a visit to the Santa María and Picachos dams this Monday. Like President López Obrador, García promised that the benefits of the dams will materialize by mid-2023. “We hope to start irrigation in 1H23. There are resources for Picachos and Santa María dams and we are even pushing for the inclusion of the Piedras Labradas dam in the Évora [river]. We are conducting the studies,” García said. He added that it is important to grant power production concessions to local suppliers and that he is pushing for that to happen. 

The Picachos dam is one of the largest water projects and is among the five largest resource-consuming projects for 2023 according to the Federal Budget. On Nov. 25, 2022, MBN reported that the Chamber of Deputies approved a budget of US$3.53 billion for water infrastructure projects, the largest amount approved in Mexico’s history. The government is to invest over US$413 million in each of the developments like the Picachos dam, the Healthy Water for the Comarca Lagunera projects in Durango and Coahuila, the El Cuchillo dam in Nuevo Leon, the El Zapotillo dam in Jalisco and the Centenario Canal in Nayarit.