JLE

Science et changements planétaires / Sécheresse

MENU

Management of pasture and water in the ranch Atotonilco, a semiarid area in Northern Mexico Volume 13, issue 4, Décembre 2002

Figures

See all figures

Authors
CENID-RASPA/INIFAP, Apdo. Postal 41, 35150 Cd. Lerdo, Dgo, Mexique.
  • Page(s) : 251-8
  • Published in: 2003

The ranch Atotonilco (450 km2) is located in the semi-arid area of North-Mexico, with an average annual depth of rainfall equal to 427 mm. The managers of the ranch practise an extensive cattle breeding (3,540 fully-grown and 2,650 calves) with a management of the pasture and the water which is representative of the big private properties of the country. The low yield of the natural pastures (840 to 1,430 kg/ha/year of dried matter) is the main restrictive factor for cattle breeding in the ranch and more generally in the semi-arid area of Northern Mexico. To rationally manage its vegetal resource, the ranch Atotonilco is divided into 10 great quarters subdivided into 102 enclosures. In order to limit the movement of the cattle, the local management of the water is based on groundwater extraction with 69 wells or borings equipped with diesel and wind motors, with 85 tanks (pilas) feeding 278 drinking trough distributed in the enclosures. More than 50 little dams (presones) and a few springs supplement the water supply system to the ranch. The groundwater volume extracted every year is equal to 100,000 m3. According to the importance of the rainfall, the water volume stored every year in the small dams may vary from 80,000 to 350,000 m3, but the cattle drinks only 1 to 2% of this volume; 53 to 75% of it percolate and 46 to 24% of it evaporate. To improve the management of the surface water in the ranch Atotonilco, simulations of the water supply system have showed that the best solution consists in connecting the dams to the water supply network in order to enhance the value of the surface water. It is also possible to modify the geometry of the dams and to water-proof the beds of a few key dams with the aim of storing surface water all year round.