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The Cuatro Cienegas Valley is a striking landscape of hundreds of azure freshwater pools in the midst of desert gardens and white gypsum dunes, all surrounded by mountains rising to 10,000 feet. This 200,000-acre valley lies deep in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert.
The valley is a geological marvel -- each pool has its own unique biodiversity. Cuatro Cienegas is home to at least 77 plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth.
Most of the land in the valley is owned by poor communal farmers who find it very difficult to gain access to water to manage their farms and feed their families. The biological diversity and long-term health of these pools is affected by overgrazing, the over-exploitation of ground and surface water, and invasive species.
Protecting private lands for the future
Rancho Pozas Azules, or Ranch of the Blue Pools, is a 7,000-acre property that harbors more than 130 of the valley’s 450 desert springs. In November 2000, the Conservancy provided Pronatura Noreste (PNE) with funding to acquire Rancho Pozas Azules. This was the first-ever conservation easement in the state of Coahuila and the largest private land conservation purchase in Mexico's history.
It is now owned and managed by PNE as a nature preserve. The Conservancy is helping PNE expand the reserve by purchasing Rancho Pasta de Garza, a 2,964-acre private ranch located to the north of the reserve. This private ranch’s 74 freshwater pools contain seven of the 19 species of native fish and eight of the 21 mollusks found in the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley. More than 300 of the valley’s 883 plant species are also found here.
Establishing a private reserve in Cuato Cienégas
In an adjacent part of the valley, the community-owned lands of Ejido el Venado have remained relatively undisturbed by development and agriculture over the years. The Conservancy and PNE entered into an agreement with El Venado’s owners to establish an 11,144-acre private reserve on the property. The community has agreed to sustainably use the land’s resources over the next 20 years. The Conservancy and PNE are also training the community on better agricultural and irrigation practices.
Working with communities to gain better access to water
Most of the farmers in the Cuatro Cienegas valley have no access to potable water and travel long distances to get water. In one community, the Conservancy and PNE installed a solar-powered pump and water system that is bringing potable water to the community from an uncontaminated mountain spring.
The Conservancy has also helped PNE set up drip-irrigated family gardens and orchards. The community members are spending less time transporting water and earning more income from selling their produce, thus improving their quality of life.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Gypsum sand dunes in the Cuatro Cienegas valley. © Edward Porter/TNC; Cuatro Cienegas' endemic Coahuilan box turtleo © Mark Godfrey/TNC.
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