Santa Maria Dam Stands at 78% Completion: CONAGUA

During President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s daily briefing, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) reported that construction of the curtain, upstream cofferdam and entrance portal of the Santa Maria dam stands at 78%. 

The curtain is currently undergoing a placement procedure involving numerous materials that account for 4.15 million m3. The total space accounts for 7.75 million m3 and concrete is being put on the plinth. 

The Santa Maria dam will supply water for the irrigation of grain and vegetable crops in Santa Maria and Escuinapa, Sinaloa, “with the objectives of making better use of water, triggering agricultural development, generating clean electricity and promoting tourism,” explained the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development via a press release. 

The dam is undergoing multiple steel processes for the placement and enablement of the material on the front curtain. Concrete is also being poured with the support of the sliding formwork and excavation works are being carried out in the riverbed area for the molded wall panels. The drainage pipe placement and the floor casting slab are being completed on the spillway discharge channel 1. 

Steel reinforcements are being placed on both sides of the dam with gravity walls. The bottom drainpipe will be 104-m long and incorporate a color-coding system to differentiate all operations carried out on the electromechanical area. Ninety-five meters of the tunnel have been completed, as well as 130 meters of the 300-meter pipeline, reports CONAGUA. 

The project has generated 1,708 indirect jobs and 2,558 direct jobs. Its main objectives are to supply water for the irrigation of 24,250 hectares, supply drinking water to 429,600 inhabitants, protect the population against a runoff and generate electricity, explained CONAGUA via a press release in 2021. President López Obrador visited Sinaloa in December 2022 to supervise the water project, reporting a 75 percent progress at the time, as reported by MBN. 

“With this work, and the rest of those that make up the Baluarte-Presidio project, the Government of Mexico will improve the water service for the population and promote agricultural development in Sinaloa, which will contribute to greater growth in Mexico,” said CONAGUA.