Friday, October 21, 2011

In Cuatrociénegas Coahuila, water is everything



by Valeria Souza



Cuatro Ciénegas is an oasis in the desert a “unique time capsule.” that it hosts ancient forms of marine microbial life that have evolved and persisted over the past 3.5 billion years. The only one of its kind, the microbial community of the basin provides a unique window on what the earliest life on Earth was like.



While pursuing my research, we also discovered that large portions of Cuatro Ciénegas were going dry since October 2002, due to the pumping of underground aquifers to irrigate alfalfa farms in the region. Many species in its rich ecosystem -- which include rare native fish, turtles, snails, and shrimp, in addition to the marine microbial community -- were disappearing due to the lack of water.


Having witnessed these changes, I began raising awareness about the unique value of the basin and the threat to it posed by the pumping. Her efforts quickly grew into a conservation effort that involved farmers, ranchers, researchers, villagers, and international NGOs. In the beginning of 2003 we produced molecular ecology data to demonstrate the connectivity of the deep aquifer between the protected area of Cuatro Cienegas and two neighboring valleys were intensive pumping was occurring. I got the attention of part of the federal government, but never knew who I was against, since those deep wells were authorized illegally by the water lord in Mexico (Comision Nacional de Agua, CNA) a shareholder of the powerful dairy industry LALA and belonged to the governor of the state of Coahuila another shareholder of LALA. In 2004 the fight for Cuatro Cienegas started to get public attention at the national level and CNA invested several million pesos to take my credibility down. However, my communication skill had improved by then and the science we produced got the respect of town-people, journalists, the public politicians and NGOs who were watching our movements quietly from backstage. In 2006 Coahuila got a new governor who was not an ally of the dairy industry and joined the fight proclaiming that Cuatro Cienegas was a state treasure.

In 2007 apparently we won an impossible battle, the voluntary withdraw of LALA ranch, the regulation of the water pumping in one of the 3 valleys and congress budget to change the way water was extracted in Cuatro Cienegas by the ejidatarios, poor ranchers that also grew alfalfa. LALA also end up paying the environmental education and the breakfast of the rancher kids. This was a battle of principles, I said NO on devastation in 2002 because as a scientist I had the crystal ball to predict the outcome of the pumping, and as a mother I had to show my children that a sustainable future was something worth fighting for. Without doubt Cuatro Cienegas gave me an unexpected power, the power to convince. On retrospective, it was not so hard because I was fearless, persisted and learned to communicate to the public the scientific evidence.



At the core is a vision of sustainability for the entire ecosystem, including its human inhabitants. However, between 2007 and 2011, the happiness of winning an impossible battle slowly dissolved and was replaced by sobering despair. The money of the state of Coahuila and the federation (1000 million pesos) that was going to be used to change the irrigation system was starting to get used on doing the exact opposite, draining the water out of the ecosystem faster than it can be replaced. My favorite ecosystem in Cuatro Cienegas, the Churince, died in October 2011. Clearly, to believe in politicians was not a good idea, that is why Science for the People is a way to put a very high value on the water, a value that the water users can see and benefit from.

I want to transform Cuatro Ciénegas from a sleepy water hole surrounded by poverty and ecological damage to a place with sustainable agriculture, eco-centered tourism, a cutting-edge research center serving all ages, from young children to graduate students, and a science museum explaining why those beautiful and unexpected blue pozas with stromatolite reefs escaped becoming fossil sepulchers, and how the creatures in them survived all the geological catastrophes that created Mexico.




In order to transform a poor endangered site to a rich conserved paradaise, we have developed a way of working by which research and public engagement reinforce each other. Through this approach, which we call "science for the people," the team has helped farmers and ranchers understand the economic impacts to their livelihoods caused by the ongoing irrigation. They have also worked with the community to find ways of supporting the local economy while also ensuring the sustainability of the basin. One strategy they developed is to commercialize genes(1) that are found in the basin and might be useful to biotechnology. Profits from the patents are returned to the local people.

(1)http://www.scidev.net/en/news/commercialising-genes-may-help-conserve-mexican-oasis-.html


However, a survey by our team in October showed widespread losses of species in a summer drought during which pumping continued. In response we are ralling the community to hold the government accountable for its commitments. They have started an international petition list that has today 2500 signature (2) and are exploring other means as well. Valeria also started a blog(3), that we hope will help keep the issue in the public eye.


(2) http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/116/895/434/

(3) http://souzacuatrocienegas.blogspot.com/


This time, I hope that the Cuatro Cienegas ancient creatures win this final battle for survival, they can not afford anymore setbacks. When I saw this October the fish carcasses carpeting the dry sediment of an ancient lagoon and the desperate scratches of the last marine turtles looking for water, I got terribly sad and weep, but soon this was replaced by active anger. These dead could be prevented if action was done, as promised, in 2007. “This is not “déjà vu”, by now I have the power of a fulfilled prediction. This time, the ball is rolling much faster and the national response to the turtles cry is not waiting to see what will happen to the rest.

Our vision of sustainable development in Cuatro Cienegas is obviously focused on science, Cuatro Cienegas can become not only the national hub for biotechnology and organic hydroponic agriculture but also a sanctuary were tourists come to marvel after understanding that this oasis can explain us all why this planet is blue and so full of life.





--
Dra. Valeria Souza Saldivar
Instituto de ecología UNAM
Ap 70-275, CU, Coyoacan,
Mexico DF, 04510, México

1 comment:

  1. es una lastima que gob local no ponga atencion al problema el tal moreira que iso nada mas endeudar ea su edo parasu beneficion y la de su partido o donde fue a parar el dinero q pidio a nombre de su edo

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