To ensure an adequate urban water supply, Mexico has declared the start of a drought emergency.

In watersheds experiencing severe to exceptional drought, temporary restrictions on water rights and volume reductions are among the measures that can be taken to ensure urban water supplies. Roughly two-thirds of Sonora is currently experiencing those drought levels.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a cut in the surface area planted,” said Jaime Garatuza, a hydrologist and irrigation specialist with the Sonoran Technical Institute.

Despite the state’s serious drought situation, he thinks there’s little chance that acreage planted by the state’s enormous agricultural sector will be cut due to water volume reductions stemming from the declaration because for the time being urban supplies are not compromised, as they are in Mexico’s Nuevo Leon state.

However, the state’s generally tight water situation could still spell trouble for big water users.