Did water surges at the Vaca Dam contribute to multiple drowning?

Steven Usher

In early April, two students from Escuela Secundaria Tecnica Mexico drowned near the low-lying bridge in San Ignacio. Their deaths sparked speculation that a surge of water released from the Vaca Dam daily contributed to their demise. This past weekend another young man, Jonathan Requeña, died in the area between the Hawkesworth Bridge and the low-lying bridge. The time of his death at three forty-five coincides almost exactly with the time of death of the students weeks prior. That has again given rise to speculation that a strong surge of water from the Vaca facility could somehow be connected. Today News Five spoke to Steven Usher, Vice President of Operations for BECOL, which operates the Vaca Dam. He maintains that it’s just not possible, since there is no surge of water released from the dam.

Via Phone: Steven Usher, Vice President of Operations, BECOL

“I could see where the perception comes in the public eye with the recent drowning that occurred, but the way we operate we operate on a schedule. B.E.L. dispatches power to us and depending on the energy needs of the country we generate power and this is through our Vaca Dam, the Vaca Hydroelectric Facility. So when we generate power we release water, and this is normally released at a steady rate. The perception I think people get is that in order to see a surge in San Ignacio there would be a huge volume of water leaving our facilities, and none of our facilities are really equipped with these floodgates. So what residents of San Ignacio would see through normal operation from our Vaca facility is a slow rise in the river, and that would come up gradually. It would probably be about eight to ten inches from whatever river level or height it would be at. And the way we generate power…normally we increase our generation based on the demand, and that would normally be between eight o’clock and nine o’clock in the morning which would increase our generation. San Ignacio residents would probably see that water getting into San Ignacio at between three and four o’clock in the evening and that is generally what they are seeing. But it’s not a surge…it’s just a gradual rise. What we are in process right now is we’re going to contact the Department of the Environment and NEMO and see if we can possibly put some sort of information…not really a warning but to advise people along the river that there may be slight changes in the river flow condition based on our generation. But there is no major flood or huge current of water that would come down but it’s just an information process that we’re looking at.”