Jalisco villagers have set up camp against the bulldozers

El Daily Post: The grey mists of morning rise in the valley of Ahuisculco, bringing the new day to the roadside encampment where ten hardy villagers have spent the night around the fire, drinking coffee and sharing stories to ward off chill and exhaustion. One by one, reinforcements begin to arrive from the nearby village with chicharrones, chismes and good cheer.

It’s another day in the plantón, the protest encampment blocking the path of the bulldozers – where hundreds of villagers of this town of 5,000 have taken a stand for more than a month to protect their water supply from the excavations of a shadowy corporation that has yet to be identified. Here in the entrance to the construction zone that menaces their springs they’ve blocked the construction with their bodies, building a temporary encampment complete with kitchen, port-a-potties, sound system and now an open-air tent chapel with their beloved “Chaparrita,” the miraculous Virgin of the Ascension. Read more.

Mexico City sinking as aquifer exhausted

Upi: As Mexico City continues to pull water from the aquifer below, its ground is sinking. The process is called subsidence. Now, the city's subsidence can be visualized from the perspective of low Earth orbit.

The European Space Agency hascreated an ariel composite image-- compiled using satellite imagery collected between October 3 and December 2 -- showing the city's rate of subsidence. Some areas of the city are sinking as much as one inch per month. Read more. 

Farmers feel economic impact of Sonora River acid spill as milk is discarded

Mexico News Daily: In terms of lost milk, the cost of the Sonora River mine spill has reached 1 million pesos as raw milk is being turned away by a pasteurization plant in Hermosillo, worsening the contamination crisis that began August 7.

The area produces about 28,000 liters of milk daily, but it is not fit for human consumption due to the presence of heavy metals in high concentrations, says a local producer.  Read more. 

Newfound aquifer may ease Mexico City's water woes

Los Angeles Times
By Richard Fausset
January 21, 2013

MEXICO CITY — It turns out a partial solution to this unwieldy megacity's vexing water problem may have been under residents' feet all along — albeit a long way down.

Mexico City government officials Monday announced the discovery of an aquifer more than a mile below ground that could provide enough water for at least some of the metropolitan area's 20 million residents. Officials say the aquifer could reduce the city's dependence on water pumped from outlying areas and reduce the strain on the region's shallower aquifers — the over-pumping of which is causing the city to sink precipitously, in some cases more than a foot each year. Read more.

Drought and savagery: a girl is murdered in Durango for taking water from a well

Desinformemonos: Americas Program Original Translation by David Feldman.
See Spanish Original.

Sofía Sánchez Morales. For more than two years, a bloody drought has been battering the northern part of Mexico. In Durango, one of the most affected states, the water scarcity took the life of Regina, an indigenous girl whose crime was taking water from a well. 

Mexico. In the state of Durango, in the northern part of the country, there are areas where it hasn’t rained for more than two years. During the last 22 months, 350,000 heads of cattle have been lost. The land is suffering from erosion and this has led to a decrease in agricultural production, 80 percent of which is dependent on storms. This means that it is completely dependent upon precipitation. The area’s residents struggle every day to find water and food.

Already by October 2011, the area’s reservoirs on average did not exceed 48 percent of their total capacity. The lack of water was even greater in the region’s semi-desert municipalities: Tlahualilo, San Juan de Guadalupe, Cuencamé, Simón Bolívar and Guadalupe Victoria. This has constituted a crisis for Duranguenses in several aspects of life, with hunger being the main—and most worrying—one.

Far from resolving itself or even improving, the problem only continues to get worse as the months pass. Just a few days ago—on Friday, June 8— the news of the murder of Regina Flores Flores broke. Regina was an eight-year-old girl from the indigenous community of El Chalete who had walked a kilometer and a half with her father in order to look for water in a well. When they reached the community of La Cantimplora, they were threatened by a man who ordered them not to take any water. After a verbal argument between the two men, father and daughter filled their three casks. The man, who had left the scene after the argument, returned with a gun, and proceeded to fire repeatedly. One of the bullets entered through Regina’s back, hitting her kidney and taking her life.

Hunger has led thousands of families to migrate, to the state capital, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Monterrey, and—for those who can—the United States. Although it is expected that this hurricane season will help in regards to the low water level, as a result of the migration there will be no one left to work the land.

Jesus Leon Wins Goldman Prize

It's rare that we get a chance to celebrate in this line of work. It seems we spend most of our time warning of new threats or documenting the devastation of a system that converts human lives and the vast diversity of nature into business ventures for the few.

But April 15 was a time to celebrate. Jesus Leon Santos, our nominee for the Goldman Environmental Prize, became the 2008 prizewinner for the North America region. In a moving ceremony held at the San Francisco Opera House, Jesus received the prize with his characteristic humility and dedication. Thousands of activists, philanthropists and students listened as he spoke out strongly about the displacement of Mexican maize farmers following NAFTA, the threat of genetically modified corn imports, and the importance of restoring and preserving traditional farming methods.

Environmentalists have sometimes had a hard time viewing agriculture as an area for environmental activism. Agricultural activity is usually found on the other side of the fence--as a force that works against the environment, through the use of agrochemicals, depletion of water, deforestation. But Jesus's project in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca is a perfect example of how that can change.

The Americas Policy Program has been following CEDICAM in its project to “build a future” in a homeland where erosion strips away the soil and out-migration strips away the farmers. As global warming, pollution, desertification, erosion and changes in land-use threaten our food supply, small farmers are coming to be viewed not just as victims, which they often are, but also as our possible salvation. And it’s no wonder that indigenous farmers, like Jesus, lead the move to sustainable farming. Find out more about how, watch this video also:

In case it passed you by, World Water Day was March 22nd. However, there's never a bad day to appreciate water and do something to improve our use of it.

Here are some important water facts to help you appreciate this resource:

• A single tree will give off 265 liters (70 gallons) of water per day in evaporation.
• An acre of corn will give off 15,000 litres (4,000 gallons) of water per day in evaporation.
• A small drip from a faucet can waste as much as 75 litres of water a day.
  
• Of all the water on the earth (about 326 million cubic miles), humans can used only about three tenths of a percent of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.
• The United States uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day.
• The United States uses nearly 80% of its water for irrigation and thermoelectric power.
• The average person in the United States uses anywhere from 80-100 gallons of water per day. Flushing the toilet actually takes up the largest amount of this water.
• More than 2 billion people on earth do not have a safe supply of water.
  

• Bottled water can be up to 1000 times more expensive than tap water and it may not be as safe.
• Today, at least 400 million people live in regions with severe water shortages.

Consider the plastic (aka oil!) and transportation costs used in bottled water, also. You can reduce your environmental impact by being more conscious about your water consumption. So... How to avoid the ever-present evil of bottled water?
Some tips:

• Drink tap water if you can. If you can't, get a filter for your tap water that makes it safe to drink. (Britta, PUR, Aqua-Pur are some examples. Here is a site that compares them for you: http://www.waterfiltercomparisons.net/WaterFilter_Comparison.cfm)
• Ask for a glass of water at restaurants instead of buying it. They will almost always give it to you.
  
• Carry water with you in a reusable bottle (look into New Wave, Kleen Kanteen, or SIGG) instead of having to buy it on the road.