On the outskirts of Monterey, Mexico, every drop of water counts.

A drought has drained their reservoirs that provide most of the water for the 5 million residents who live around the financial capital of northern Mexico.

The crisis has sparked widespread upheaval.

Anger is mounting at government officials who allow the region's thousands of factories

to pull water from the strained aquifer via private wells.

Experts say the crisis unfolding here

is a stark warning for the rest of Mexico,

as well as the American West.

I'm Gustavo Ariano. You're listening to The Times, Daily News from the LA Times.

It's Thursday, July 28, 2022.

Today, a dispatch from a parched present and an even thirstier future.

Joining us to talk about this as L.A. Times foreign correspondent Kate Lindicam. Kate, welcome to the Times.

It's great to be here.

What are Monterey's residents experiencing right now?

So the majority of people in Monterey only have water for a few hours a day in the morning,

the rest of the time, their tops are running dry. But then there are really big sections of the city, particularly the areas kind of on the

periphery, kind of farther out, where there's no water at all.

Some of these neighborhoods have not had water for a few weeks. Others have gone a few days

to bathe, to cook, to clean.

They are relying either on like bottled water that they buy from stores or water that's being trucked in by the government or occasionally there are these wells in parks that they can access.

So it's people basically carrying water to their houses in buckets, kind of like the olden days.

The people I talk to are really desperate. They're really exhausted. They have jobs, have families,

...