Water Shortages in Los Cabos Continue
Every day, as part of the Security Guard's "rounds," they check the levels of water in the cisterns AND the flow rate of water coming in from OOMSAPAS (at the Malecón).
I've seen the flow rate when it is a trickle. I've seen it when it is OFF entirely. Very seldom is it flowing at full rate. Even less frequently are our cisterns FULL, and OOMSAPAS water is therefore not flowing into Las Mañanitas.
It's a management struggle -- one that chews up a lot of our staff's time, believe me.
The HOA has a protocol for dealing with these situations as they become more challenging:
- First, when cistern levels fall to a threshold level, we shut down using water for irrigation and pools.**
Next, we order water delivered by a water truck, which is very expensive. We wait until necessary before calling the truck, because many times OOMSAPAS turns our water on before we run out. As you can imagine, this timing can be tricky. We can order when we need to, but sometimes the delivery is delayed. If we are out of water, then neighbors are, too; and the hotels may pay more and get priority. Normally, the trucks arrive in time. Sometimes they don't. I don't know.
David maintains very positive relationships with multiple private water suppliers to get priority delivery. But there are no guarantees.
Next, we order water delivered by a water truck, which is very expensive. We wait until necessary before calling the truck, because many times OOMSAPAS turns our water on before we run out. As you can imagine, this timing can be tricky. We can order when we need to, but sometimes the delivery is delayed. If we are out of water, then neighbors are, too; and the hotels may pay more and get priority. Normally, the trucks arrive in time. Sometimes they don't. I don't know.
As we've noted before, water supply is a strategic need for Las Mañanitas. We are exploring the costs of getting our own desalination facility on-site. Hopefully, the full business case can be prepared, circulated and discussed prior to November, and we can make well-informed decisions in November.
** Pools. Believe it or not, evaporation reduces the level of water in pools by a material amount. If the levels fall too far, the skimmers and water circulation/filter system is put at risk and we need to shut off the pumps. Chlorine can hold the water quality for a while, but eventually, we'd need to close the pools!
Landscape. Obviously, that has to be temporary, lest we turn into a desert.