Loreto

The municipality of Loreto, with its very small surface area, is almost completely made up of hills and mountains.  The municipality registers high solar energy values; Loreto also has substantial fishery and tourism services associated with its coastline and nearby islands, which are part of the Loreto Bay National Marine Park and Gulf of California Islands National Park.  As for other natural resources, the municipality registers very low values, with the possible exception of its wind energy, although this resource has still to be definitively assessed. Likewise, the valley of San Juan Londó experiences degraded natural plant life, loss of agricultural areas, erosion, and over-exploitation of soils.[1]

Most current ecotourism activities on the islands do not create direct benefits for their conservation.  This situation is exacerbated by private boats and yachts that anchor in local bays without contributing to park maintenance and upkeep.  The presence of independent tourists, and tourists accompanied by untrained guides, generates a potential damage to the islands; this is worsened by the presence of “pirate” companies that carry out trips without the corresponding permits. 

An example of this is illicit recreational fishing activities, which are either organized by a tourist service company or carried out independently.  This leads to a lack of knowledge of the extractive capacity of the fleet and actual catch levels, which means it is impossible to enforce effective regulatory measures of fishing practices.  Another problem (noted by commercial fishermen) is that current legislation does not establish closed season periods for recreational fishing activities, which means species are caught during pregnancy.

The upcoming decision regarding Loreto’s urban development plan will also have substantial environmental impacts.  If a proposed plan to bring the population to 120,000 over the next 20 years is passed, Loreto’s regulatory and enforcement networks will be severely strained, in addition to the impacts on the local aquifer.  Recent groundwater modeling studies by the University of Arizona have indicated that Loreto has less than 15 years before its aquifers are empty or contaminated with saline intrusion at current population levels.