The drought and the historic heat wave that hit Mexico this month have exposed the remains of a 16th century Dominican temple in Chiapasin the southeast of the country, which was submerged in a dam.
After almost a month with temperatures that exceed 40 degrees, the Malpaso or Nezahualcóyotl dam, in the southern state of Chiapas, has lowered its levels, with what has revealed an archaeological treasurealthough it has also affected more than 500 Tilapia farms.
The water levels dropped about 25 meters highwhich exposed the ruins of the Santiago Apóstol church, in the old town of Quechula, current municipality of Tecpatán, heir to the Olmec culture, the oldest civilization in Mexico.
This is the second time, after 20 years, that this phenomenon has occurred since it was submerged in 1966 after the construction of the dam, where you can see the vestiges of the Dominican temple that fascinates explorers and historians.
The phenomenon attracted curious people like María Sarmiento Pérez, originally from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas, who has heard the stories of this city for years through her son-in-law.
He always told me to come, but I couldn’t until today we were given the opportunity to come, it’s very nice,” the woman told EFE.
The temple is considered a ceremonial center, since every year parishioners make processions to the dam to bring offerings.
Due to the drought, these days hundreds of people have entered on foot, on motorcycles and trucks to the entrance of the temple, where some come to cross themselves and others to take pictures.
Between heat and drought
The phenomenon occurs while Mexico is experiencing a historic heat wave, which is defined as a period of at least three consecutive days above average, which places the country as one of the hottest areas in the Western Hemisphere, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius in various states.
In addition, two thirds of the country’s regions face a degree of drought, according to monitoring by the National Water Commission (Conagua).
It might interest you: Mexico expects maximum temperatures above 45 degrees in these states
In Chiapas, one of the most vegetated states in Mexico, the heat wave and lack of rain have affected 500 aquaculture farms producing tilapia fish and hydroelectric dams.
“Now the bad has hit us, the dam has really gone down a lot, it has gone down about 20 to 25 meters,” producer Baldemar Antonio Masa told EFE.
“On my farm I have lost product already on its way to the market, I ran out of four cages full of product,” he added.
Given the actions of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to guarantee the supply of hydroelectric plants, he asked for support from the state and country governments in the face of the million-dollar loss of producers.
We want the support, that the Government help us for the loss we have had of food and materials,” he added.
The dam that dries up
The Malpaso dam has an approximate level of operation of 182.5 meters high, but suffers six consecutive months of drought.
Pablo Mendoza Vázquez, one of the youngest tilapia producers, lost half of his production.
My fish died and the benefit dropped, I got to have about 5,000 and well, about half of it, nothing else came out,” he told EFE.
He added that approximately two months ago the waters of the dam began to drop drastically.
It is going down, because there are places where it is getting very low and the current no longer flows, because the fish suffocates and dies,” he warned.
Chiapas is one of the main producers in the country of tilapia with 30,000 of the 50,000 tons that are harvested each year in the country, according to the Aquaculture Group of the National Council of Balanced Food Manufacturers and Animal Nutrition.
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