Mexico’s Biggest Lake Is Shrinking Fast

Lake Chapala has played a key role in the development of the region around Guadalajara over the decades.

It has provided water for millions of people, made gardens bloom on the dusty plains of western Mexico and lured thousands of Americans and their dollars to retirement communities along its shore.

Now Mexico’s biggest lake is in trouble. It is shrinking at the rate of 74 acres a day because drought and water extraction for nearby Guadalajara is sucking it dry.

Its surface area has decreased nearly 20%, to 328 square miles. The average depth has dropped from 32 feet to less than 9 1/2.

Lake Chapala has survived a number of previous threats, including being choked by water lilies that feed on fertilizers and agricultural runoff. But it may not survive much longer, residents and fishermen fear.

“This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and I wanted to move here since I first saw it,” said Hugh Robertson, a New Yorker who has lived in Mexico since retiring in 1987.

When Robertson moved here 3 1/2 years ago, the waterfront was a few feet from his house. Today the water is a quarter-mile away.

“I am saddened by the loss of the lake,” he said.

The lake also is credited with helping keep temperatures mild on what would otherwise be a baking plain.

“I met people from Texas, Arizona and Florida who come to Chapala escaping the heat in those states in the summer months. They call themselves ‘the summer birds,’ ” said Lorena Otero, a graduate student at a Mexican university doing research on the lake.

Despite the lake’s shrinkage, the Metropolitan Area Water Authority announced in April that it was increasing water extraction to nearly 2,000 gallons a second, the maximum allowed by the federal government.

Lake Chapala already holds less than one-third of the water it contained at its maximum size of 400 square miles.

“Of the 9 million cubic meters we had 10 years ago, we only have 2.5 million left, and that is decreasing quickly,” said Jorge Dipp Murad, a local businessman and environmental activist.

Many residents say their dreams are being stolen along with the lake.

Politicians have repeatedly promised drastic measures to protect the lake. But little has been done, said Ruth Boyes, a native of Wisconsin who learned about Lake Chapala through her public library and has lived in the area since 1974.

“It gets started, then it drags. Then there’ll be an election and it will start again,” she said. “My whole reaction is one of discouragement.”

The lakeside area, including the towns of Chapala, Ajijic and Jocotepec, is home to more than 10,000 Americans and Canadians drawn by the beauty of the lake and the mild climate.

The administration of Jalisco Gov. Alberto Cardenas draws much criticism for the lake’s problems, but other states have also contributed to its decline.

Lake Chapala’s main source of water, the Lerma River, flows though five states, including Jalisco, before reaching the lake. A 1989 agreement among the five states restricted water extraction from the river but has been largely ignored.

“The citizens of this community have been asking the government to do something for years,” said Dale Palfrey, a longtime lakeside resident. “There are a lot of meetings, a lot of organizations, a lot of talk, but there have been no concrete actions.”

But many say they will continue the struggle.

“It’s very essential that Lake Chapala survive,” said George Cardis, who moved here from Chicago three years ago. “If the lake wasn’t there, there would be serious consequences for the environment and the climate. There’s still time to do something, if there’s enough political will.”