Catemaco & Los Tuxtlas have more rainfall than most places in North America. Laguna Catemaco is the fourth or fifth largest fresh water reservoir in Mexico, depending on who does statistics. But Catemaco has a freshwater shortage. DUH?
I recently changed residence in beautiful downtown Catemaco, and installed a sprinkler system to water my miniature tropical forest. Promptly a local snitch complained to the water police and 5 of them showed up intending to dig up my yard and install a water meter. My partner blew them off with legalese. I just sat there dumbfounded, ogling my existing water meter, which works very well, installed in front of my porch. Now I am told there is a 500 peso fine to use a hose to pass water. I might as well just piss on my plants.
Catemaco has a water problem because it has not updated its well fields since considerable population growth and has economic problems, because of some ridiculous law that prohibits it from collecting its bills by turning off the water. Since most people know the water company cannot turn off the water, many do not pay their bill (Carlos Slim of Telmex should take over the installation. Within a week thousands would be dying of thirst).
And anyway the local manager seems to be is angry with me for using his colors to paint a stripe on my fence, next to what used to be a junkyard until I cleaned it up a little, and which below the grime read CMAS - Comisiones Municipales de Agua y Saneamiento. So, in order not to match my exact color, the poor bureaucrats had to buy a more expensive paint to refresh their logo. So now, I need a new meter, cannot use a hose, and if it were up to them, I would have to walk downtown to get a cup of water to make coffee.
Screw them. Next week, my well digger will dig 3 to 4 meters down, tap the Laguna Catemaco aquifer and permit to me to sprinkle anything within a 100 meter circumference, including any meter readers. That´s a lot better radius than my adopted male dog Bobbi can cover. Anyway, I´ll reserve him for the meter reader.
