Reports: El Cuchillo dam 53% over capacity

The El Cuchillo dam in northern Mexico's Tamaulipas state is 53% over capacity, prompting local officials to ask national water commission CNA to help prevent flooding that could devastate local areas, according to local reports. "We want those in charge of the [dam's] operation to tell us in a report if we are at risk [of flooding] or not and what should be done to prevent the risk if it exists," El Norte quoted Nuevo León state public works minister Abel Guerra as saying. El Cuchillo now holds roughly 1.72B cu. m. of water, according to CNA figures released earlier this week, which is roughly 53% over capacity, El Norte said. El Cuchillo is designed to trap overflow from the San Juan river, which comes from mountains off of Nuevo León capital Monterrey. Flooding has been a problem in northern Mexico of late, with rains over the Escondido River contributing to flooding along the Rio Grande river that killed dozens of people. "What happened on the Escondido river is a small-scale example of what could happen if El Cuchillo bursts," El Norte quoted Tamaulipas waterworks advisor Raúl Quiroga as saying.