Керетароның солтүстігіндегі Арройо Секо муниципалитеті

Arroyo Seco is a town in Arroyo Seco Municipality located in the far north of the Mexican state of Querétaro. Its territory is part of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve of Querétaro. The municipality is centered on the small town of Arroyo Seco, which was established as a military outpost then given town status in 1833 under the name of Villa de Guadalupe before changing to its current name. The town gained municipal status in 1931. The area is very rural with most people living in communities of under 100 people, with significant Pame communities. It has a traditional economy based on agriculture, livestock and forestry but it is also one of the poorest in Mexico, with high rates of emigration, especially sending migrant workers to the United States. It is estimated that one in four households in the municipality receives money from family members in this country. The municipality is also home to one of five Franciscan mission complexes built under the tenure of Junípero Serra, located in the community of Concá.

Arroyo Seco is a small town of about three hundred homes centered on a plaza named after Mariano Escobedo. The town originated as a military outpost called the Presido de Arroyo Seco. It became the seat of the municipality of the same name in 1931. The houses are painted in various colors and its streets are quiet. The town is home to all municipal services and has the most developed infrastructure and social services in the area. This includes the Casa de Cultura cultural center, an auditorium and a library. The Mariano Escobedo plaza has an “oriental” style kiosk surrounded by large trees. On one side the main parish church called the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe dominates. This church was begun in 1904 and was supposed to be much larger than it is, but construction was suspended due to the Mexican Revolution. It has an austere facade and the interior has black pews. The most important yearly event in the municipal seat is the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe on 12 December.

The municipality is part of the Sierra Gorda region, which is centered on northern Querétaro state. This region is a branch of the Sierra Madre Oriental, consisting of mountain chains that parallel the Gulf of Mexico. This land was sea bed 100 million years ago, which formed ancient sedimentary rock, mostly limestone, which easily erodes. This makes the area part of the Huasteca Karst Arroyo Seco is completely within the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve of Querétaro, which was established in 1997. Most of the territory is mountainous, with gradients of over 25%. Altitudes in the territory range from 560 to 1340 masl with an average of 980masl. The mountain formations are subdivided into two parts. The first is a corridor along the border with Jalpan which is over forty km long and five km wide. This area has some very low valleys of only 700 masl. The second area is more rugged with canyons of up to 600 meters deep and peaks which reach over 2000 masl. There are a number of flat areas and valleys which are mostly along the Ayutla and Concá rivers. The principal elevations are Santo Domingo, Cantera, Cofradía, Soledad and Pitorreal. The area's location over the Huasteca Karst and the erosion of limestone has given rise to numerous pit caves. The largest of these in the Sierra Gorda is located in Arroyo Seco, called the Sótano de Barro, located in the Santa María de los Cocos community. The Sótano del Barro is one of the largest cavities of the world by volume, measuring 15 million cubic metres, surpassed only the Sima Mayor de Sarisariñama in Venezuela. In comparison, the Sótano de Las Golondrinas has a volume of only five million meters cubed. Its widest diameter measures 420 meters and its average width is 200 meters. It has a total depth of 455 meters with a direct drop of 410 meters. Its perimeter is surrounded by dense vegetation, which is a sanctuary for green macaws. It requires a walk or mule ride of about two hours through dense forest to reach. The walls of the pit cave are mostly vertical and partially covered by vegetation. At the bottom of the cave there is a small forest on a floor which was sea bed 100 million years ago, which measures 220 meters long and 100 meters wide. Despite its depth, the bottom of the pit cave receives an abundance of sunlight allowing for the growth of trees and other vegetation, making it an isolated mini forest. The bottom also has a number of small caves, with the largest fifty meters long. This pit cave has been classified as the deepest in the world although this has recently been challenged by those who wish to include those pit caves which are not continuous such as the Stary Swistak in Austria, which has a total depth of 480 meters.

Principal river systems include the Santa María, the Ayutla River and the Jalpan River with their tributaries such as the Concá River in the south of the municipality. The Santa María enters the municipality from San Luis Potosí and flows along a 400 meter deep canyon until it merges with the Ayutla River. This river flows northeast, forming another canyon then merges with the Jalpan River. There are about 100 accessible sources of water in the municipality with most located in the communities of Salitrillo, Concá and Ayutla. The northern border of the municipality is partially formed by the Verde River. The Concá Waterfall is located just south of the town of the same name. This waterfall is fed by a fresh water spring and falls into the Santa María River. However, the over extraction of water has led to dropping water tables and many of the area's fresh water springs are flowing at slower rates or have dried up.

The municipality divides into two climate regions. The north is semi arid with an average temperature of 22C and an annual rainfall of between five and 10.5mm per falling mostly in the summer. The other is semi hot with average temperatures varying from 18 to 22C with rains in the summer. Very cold temperatures can prompt emergency services such as the provision of blankets by the municipality's civil protection service or evacuation to shelters. Communities which are most vulnerable to severe cold include La Sanguijuela, La Escondida de Guadalupe, La Cantera, Río del Carrizal and El Durazno. The area has had problems with droughts over the past decade, especially in 2009, which have been draining reserves and aquifers. The lack of water has caused the deaths of livestock and forced more people to emigrate from the municipality. Many communities now must rely on water trucked in from outside.

Vegetation on the limestone and other sedimentary soils ranges from lowland rainforest to grasslands to scrub brush in more arid areas. In forested areas, the trees include oaks, pines, white cedar, strawberry trees and oyamels. In the drier areas, there are also mesquite trees with some other desert plants including cactus. In the lowest elevations there are tropical hardwoods such as red cedar, Montezuma cypress and a tree called the “parota.” Wildlife mostly consists of birds and mammals such as doves, quails, chachalacas, eagles, roadrunners, and some waterfowl. Mammals include squirrels, rabbits, armadillos, white tailed deer, foxes, coyotes, wild boar, pumas, raccoons, skunks, and opossums. There are some reptiles such as rattlesnakes and coral snakes. Typical dishes include jerky, cecina, “Serrano” style enchiladas and pit cooked barbacoa. Sweets include “chancaquillas” which is made with piloncillo and squash seeds. Beverages include aguamiel and pulque along with atole with sunflower seeds. The Concá mission is the smallest of the five, but between 1754 and 1758 by José Antonio de Murguía and Joaquin Fernández Osorio. It is dedicated to the Archangel Michael, with the theme of the facade being “The Victory of the Faith.” It is considered to have the most indigenous elements, Since 2006, it has been known that the dump sits on the southern part of the site proper and that the digging of the dump site is estimated to have destroyed between eight and ten pyramids. More vestiges of the site lie 300 meters below the dump. The municipality promised for years to move the facility and from 2006, state and federal authorities have promised to replace it with a new one farther away. However, as of 2009, the dump is still operating taking on as much as forty tons of trash per week, as the new facility was not yet finished. In 2007, a smaller, above ground dump appeared in the same area, within sight of visible ruins. During this time, acids and other substances produced by the pit have probably caused damage to the limestone of the site, eating away at structures made of the substance. In the latter 2000s, the municipality has been struggling with water shortages due to drought conditions. The lack of water has caused the deaths of livestock and forced more people to emigrate from the municipality. Many communities now must rely on water trucked in from outside. From the latter 2000s to the present, Arroyo Seco and the rest of the Sierra Gorda in Querétaro have been experiencing numerous small earthquakes, with most registering from 2.5 to 3.5 on the Richter scale, generally imperceptible to humans. Seismologists say that while the number has been unusual, such activity is not and is due to the settling of the sedimentary rock which is below most of the Sierra Gorda region. However, Arroyo Seco and other municipalities have seismographs installed to monitor the situation. The municipality's recent history also includes the mass migration out by many of its working aged people due to lack of economic opportunity. Most have gone to the United States with as much as forty percent of the municipality's population living in the country alone. The money that these workers send back home have significantly changed the local economy, as it is larger than the locally generated economy and larger than annual municipal budget. The migration has caused municipality schools, especially primary schools to lose students as they leave for the United States with their parents. In 2006, the municipality elected its first non PRI municipal president since the Mexican Revolution, a former migrant worker by the name of Mariano Palacios Trejo, from the PRD This base is part of the 17th Military Zone to patrol the Querétaro San Luis Potosí border. The military is there to countering drug trafficking in the area as the region does not have the resources for local police forces.

The municipality is one of the most economically marginalized in the state, with the Secretaría de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL) cataloging it as one of the 200 most socioeconomically marginalized in the country. Many businesses in the municipality and the rest of the Sierra Gorda take the dollar as currency, especially at the end of the year when many come to the area to visit family. Arroyo Seco has one of the highest rates of emigration in Querétaro. Because of this emigration, only 23.36% of the total population is economically active, mostly employed in traditional economic activities, such as agriculture, livestock, forestry and general commerce. About twenty percent of the total population works at home for no pay. Women make up only 22% of the paid workforce. Most of those who are not economically active are students and housewives. Most of the territory is used for pasture and forestry, with total about ninety percent. The rest is used for agriculture, most of which is done only during the rainy season. Just over 43% of the economically active are working agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing. Thirty of the municipality's communities engage in agriculture to some degree with most of the production for self consumption. The soil is fertile although it is sometimes hard with some drainage problems. These problems are greatest where the topsoil is less than ten centimeters. One problem with agriculture here is that the soil erodes easily. Fruit trees include mango, oranges, limes, bananas, guavas, avocados and papaya. Other crops such as sugar cane, corn, beans, green chili peppers, cascabel chili peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, squash, chickpeas, sorghum, barley and pitahaya. Most livestock is raised in the communities of El Refugio, San Juan Buenaventura, La Florida, San José de la Flores, Río de Carrizal, Ayutla, Salitrillo and Tepame. Most livestock is cattle with some sheep and goats. The forests of the municipality make up about sixteen percent of the state's forest resources and cover 54% of the municipality. Over eighty percent of the forest is made up solely of broad leafed trees with most of the rest a mix of broad leafed and conifers. Logging is limited because of the tropical hardwoods here and conservation efforts related to the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, but it still makes up over 15% of the state's total. About 19% of the forested lands are used for grazing. Fish farming is a growing segment of the economy, especially in communities near rivers such as Río del Carrizal, Concá, Vegas Cuatas and Ayutla. About 25% are working in mining, construction, utilities and manufacturing. Commerce, transportation and services employ about eighteen percent. There are about 140 people dedicated to commerce, most of which is small grocery stores. Supermarkets and other similar stores are located in neighboring San Luis Potosí in Río Verde and San Ciro. Tourism is a small percentage of the economy, mostly based on the mission church at Concá and some resort hotels opened in recent years. People also visit to see the 1000 year old Montezuma Bald Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum), called the Árbol Milenario or Millennium Tree. Its trunk has the second largest diameter in Mexico after the Tule tree in Oaxaca, requiring twenty two children linking hands to surround it. From its roots flows one of the fresh water springs of the community. During the colonial period, there were several haciendas in the municipality. One of these was San Nicolás de Concá, which still has abundant vegetation, a large fresh water spring and hiking trails. The main house has been converted into a hotel, conserving part of the original structure made of adobe, with rustic stairs, wooden roof beams and gardens. The San Nicolas Conca hotel has fifty rooms and is owned by an American by the name of Sharpton. The hacienda was originally dedicated to sugar cane and dates from the 18th century. The El Abanico water park has two swimming pools, a wading pool, restaurant and gardens and areas for camping. It is located next to the Concá Hacienda. The Hotel Ayutla water park has two swimming pools, three wading pools, sports fields, picnic areas, restaurant, gardens and areas to camp.