Jose Manuel Perez Reyes uncoils a hose as he delivers water to an auto mechanic shop from his water truck Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Tijuana, Mexico. Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis. TIJUANA, Mexico — — Luis Ramirez leapt onto the roof of his bright blue water truck to fill the plastic tank that by day's end would empty into an assortment of buckets, barrels and cisterns in 100 homes.
Entire neighborhoods on Tijuana's hilly and sometimes grassy far reaches remain unconnected to the city’s water mains and pipes. Accessing water there is a daily struggle — and an expensive one, as trucked-in water usually costs much more than what people connected to the city pay. Even in middle class neighborhoods, like homemaker Martha Muñoz's in Tijuana’s fast-growing south, neighbors have to share updates on WhatsApp about possible shutoffs and coordinate requests to city authorities when it's cut.
“People are left without water for way too long,” said Jose Manuel Perez Reyes, who distributes trucked-in water, adding that the government sometimes tells residents the shutoffs are to fix pipes when in reality there simply isn't enough water. Then, there's drought. Nationwide, more than 44% of municipalities in Mexico were in drought in May, according to Mexico’s National Water Commission. Tijuana’s challenges are acute as one of the country’s fastest-growing cities in one of Mexico’s most water-stressed states.