La Laguna Water Savings: Mulch Film and Reservoir Liners

Why is water the most important factor in La Laguna?

La Comarca Lagunera includes municipalities in Coahuila such as Torreón, Matamoros and Francisco I. Madero, and in Durango such as Gómez Palacio and Lerdo. It is a region with a dry climate, scarce rain concentrated in summer, intense heat during the growing season and frost in winter. Growers there plant melon, watermelon, forage, pecan and vegetables, and almost everything depends on irrigation. When available water is limited, every square meter of bare bed that evaporates or fills with weeds is water lost.

That is why the conversation with a Laguna grower usually starts with irrigation, not plastic. Two ICUSA products tackle the issue from different angles: agricultural mulch film, which protects the water you already apply, and the water reservoir liner, which helps capture and store the water that arrives with the rain.

How does mulch film help save water on melon and watermelon?

Melon and watermelon are planted on beds with drip tape irrigation, and there mulch film does several jobs at once. It makes water and nutrient use more efficient, controls weeds and pests and changes soil temperature. By covering the bed, it reduces direct evaporation from the soil, and the weeds that compete for water barely emerge under the film.

ICUSA confirms that using plastic films in agriculture can save 20% in water consumption. Actual savings change with the soil, irrigation system, crop and management, so it is best to measure them in your own field.

Which mulch film color works best in the heat of La Laguna?

As a rule of thumb: the hotter the period in which the plant occupies the bed, the more sense a light-reflecting color makes. When you start early and the soil is cold, black/black speeds up development, but you need to watch that it does not overheat when temperatures climb.

What about late frosts and wind on melon and watermelon?

In La Laguna, early plantings risk a late-winter frost, and in spring the wind can damage young vines. For those cases, the agricultural macro tunnel protects against excessive radiation, wind, heavy rain, frost and hail. It is used over the mulch film to move the cycle forward with more security, and it is removed once temperatures allow.

What is a water reservoir liner and when does it make sense?

Water reservoir liners (water harvesting ponds) are depressions in the ground, adapted to capture rainwater and runoff, with a catchment area that makes it possible to capture, store and supply water. In field terms: a reserve on your land so that the rain that falls and runs across the property is not lost into the soil or carried off the land.

It makes sense on properties where heavy rain falls in short periods, the land has a slope or roads that channel runoff, and a water backup is needed for supplemental irrigation. The reservoir does not create water: it only stores what has already arrived. In a very dry year there will not be much to store, which is why it is best seen as a complement to the well or canal, not a replacement.

What should you plan before building a reservoir?

• Where the water runs on your property during storms, so you can place the depression at the catchment point.
• What type of soil you have and how much water can seep through, so you can define with the advisor how the depression is prepared.
• How the water will be drawn out: by pumping or by gravity to the irrigation system.
• How animals and people will be kept out, and what care the edge of the embankment will need.

How do the two solutions work together?

One way to look at it is by stages of the water cycle on your property:

This way, the reservoir helps you have water available and the mulch film helps you not waste it once it is on the bed. Neither replaces good irrigation scheduling, which remains the foundation.

What should you ask before getting a quote?

Bring to the conversation your crop and planting date, irrigation system, bed width, the water source on your property and, if you are considering a reservoir, the surface area you want to store. ICUSA’s usage recommendations give you a starting point for installation. If rainfed farming is also part of your region, see how it is handled in Zacatecas with the water reservoir liner, and to see how extreme heat is managed in another state, read about agricultural plastics in Sonora. To compare all regions, there is the guide to agricultural plastics by state.

If your property is in Coahuila or Durango, ICUSA serves you directly from its plant in Culiacán, Sinaloa, and ships to your region. Message a technical advisor on WhatsApp or through the contact page and they will guide you with your order.