José Arturo Morales Tirado, winner of the National Tourism Prize, has mentioned a topic that nobody else has in the series of interviews for www.aguavidasma.org. He refers to the sanitary landfill in the upper part of a San Miguel´s microbasin. “We know this landfill has been handled very badly and the toxins generated by the waste go directly to the surface waters and also infiltrate the aquifer where we extract 95 percent of the water we consume.”
Morales, also manager of the tourism agency Tierra Adentro San Miguel de Allende exclaims: “That landfill cannot be tolerated anymore!!”. He recommends going to the root of the administrative planning that involves protecting the peak of the mountains, as well as the middle part —between the top and the mountain slopes— where the recharge zones of the aquifers are located. Today, a study of the Independence Aquifer estimates that the average depth of the granular aquifer’s capacity is 300 meters. “We should be close to 180 or 175 meters. We already finished half of its capacity. And with the current population growth we will finish it in the next 10 years. This is very serious, regardless of the contamination or the high toxic levels of the water that we extract from the wells.”
Morales Tirado therefore reprises one of the campaign proposals of the newly-elected municipal president, Luis Alberto Villarreal: It is a middle- and long-term planning of the municipality based on the participation of experts. To this, Arturo Morales would add the urgency of a new Demographic Dynamics Plan. “This has not been contemplated for 15 years. How do you plan if you do not have this demographic dynamics well established? ”
Hence, Morales Tirado not only proposes to raise the urgency of this new Demographic Dynamics Plan but also to define the aquifer which is shared by Dolores, San Felipe, Doctor Mora, San Luis de la Paz, San Jose Iturbide, San Diego de la Unión, part of León and the city of Guanajuato. This includes differentiating the ecological, social and cultural aspects. Therefore all actions must be taken in parallel between the municipalities to ensure a solid and effective administration.
In the last 50 years there has been an almost geometric population increase. In 1970 there were less than 38 thousand inhabitants. Today, in urban areas, there are 100 thousand. “If you want to plan a territory, you should know for how many people in the short-, medium- and long-term. That is not done in San Miguel. My proposal implies finding a way out of this crisis by changing habits, a cultural change. We have an anthropogenic problem and the solution is to re-educate the population for a rational consumption of water and other natural resources. That´s the solution.”
Luis Alberto Villarreal has proposed medium- and long-term decisions. “And we welcome that. But what if the links of corruption with the short-term economic interests are not cut off?”
Hence, as part of his proposals, it is also necessary to review all the water agencies, both in the rural and urban areas. These regulators in the rural area are an enigma for most citizens. “They have incomes and we do not know how they are distributed. SAPASMA, which is the closest, is just as obscure. ”
But to date “all this is upside down,” says José Arturo. There is no Demographic Plan. There is no control over urban growth. The impact of commercial agriculture on the aquifer and the loss of biodiversity is increasing. “We depend more and more on ecological inputs such as energy and food. There is little local circular economy and the natural areas are not even protected with a State or Federal declaration.”
San Miguel needs a well informed citizens participation, with convincing arguments in order to change things. There are business organizations and chambers of commerce as well as social groups concerned with San Miguel´s well being. But the difference between these groups and the general public is the quality of their arguments. However, groups with a strong economic impact are nothing if they do not spread their information and arguments, he says. “It is our commitment to disseminate all this and to focus on water pollution campaigns, the distribution and water treatment campaigns and so on.”
And he continues: “The key is our demand for transparency, but not through the official means that serve no purpose, but through the social networks. We demand transparency and reports on the condition of the wells, the distribution of the water, the condition of the drainage system and water treatment in places like Atotonilco, La Cieneguita, colonia of San Antonio, for example.”
José Arturo Morales is optimistic about the current political-economic context that marks this new administration. It is the only blue color party – PAN – in the middle of the country and San Miguel´s tourism appears in the Cuernos de la Luna for world information. “This forces us to have a crystal clear government. There is no other option.”
See complete transcript in Spanish: http://aguavidasma.org/j-a-morales-tirado-propuestas-para-el-nuevo-gobierno/