Bacalar, Q.R. — The National Water Commission (Conagua) and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) have published the results of a water quality report on the Laguna Bacalar.
The samples were taken July 23 of last year when it was at its highest critical point. However, the Conagua analyzes reports that the water quality was in “excellent” condition despite its brown color.
Melina Maravilla from the organization Agua Clara Ciudadanos por Bacalar, stated that although it is not possible to speculate with the data, the results are “not to be believed”.
The federal agency carried out measurements in four points of the lagoon, considering parameters of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), fecal coliforms, color, turbidity, presence of nitrogen, as well as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), total organic carbon, chlorophyll , pesticides and phytoplankton.
Both in BOD and COD, Conagua reported that the four monitored sites are within acceptable margins. Regarding fecal coliforms, the results showed that the quality of the water is between excellent and good. In dissolved oxygen, the numbers show excellent conditions.
However, according to Agua Clara, it is precisely the lack of oxygen in the water, due to excess organic matter, which is the possible cause of the massive death of goat snails. In the general measurement, all the points were found in a green light even though the water was of an unusual hue and it remains that way in most of the lagoon.
Experts from the Colegio de la Frontera Sur point out that the lagoon underwent a process of eutrophication, an excessive recharge of external nutrients that transformed the natural composition of the water, which was very clean.
