Earth Day and bottled water

Today is Earth Day and the group "Food and Water watch" has a great article about the "Take back the Tap" project.  Please take action to stop bottle water here

Please click through and view the video from Food and Water Watch.

Thanks

Rick

The story of stuff--"Bottled water"

This is another video from the folks at "The story of stuff" about bottled water.

Please see  Bottled water

http://storyofstuff.org/bottledwater/

What’s wrong with buying bottled water?

An interesting video about why we need to protect and support municipal water systems.

What’s wrong with buying bottled water?

What is the significance of the privatization of water?

Please check out this video from John Todd.

What is the significance of the privatization of water?

Why keeping water as a public asset.

We are back in the USA

Our second trip to Oaxaca has come to an end.  Susan, arrived back in Bay area (CA) on 9 Feb. Stan arrived in Seattle on 17 Feb, and I arrived back in Seattle on 24 Feb, after getting some much needed R&R in la Manzanilla.  Judith and I got to stay with our friends Dan and Heidi (who are building a house there, and donated a weeks stay at our Day for the Dead Auction last Oct).

We are now getting back in the swing of working remotely, and following up on all  the loose ends from our time in Oaxaca.  We are had at work researching funding opportunities, coordinating with our partner NGO INSO and our 1/2 time staff person Nelly.  We are focusing our efforts on formalizing our relationship with INSO (formal contract) and opening a "case" with Instituto Estatal de Ecologia (IEE) [State Institute of Ecology] which will then trigger a case with the Federal Water commission.  We are building political support for our black water solution to pressure Etla to step up to the plate and embrace a community wide solution.

Monday, February 15, 2010

This is our last full day in Oaxaca.  Tomorrow we take a bus to Mexico City and Wednesday we leave Mexico City:  Stan back to Seattle; Rick, Jude and cousin Peter to a week’s vacation in La Manzanillo.

At 1 o’clock we met with Lic. Rosa Elena Manzano Mendez, a representative of the State Institute of Ecology (IEE). She had attended the Oaxaca Water Forum on Friday and, therefore, was familiar with who we were and what we were doing there. Prior to the Forum, we had asked Juan Jose if we could meet with any of the organizations that we want to collaborate our efforts with and he was able to arrange this meeting on short notice. The meeting took place at the INSO office.

Mendez explained that the State Institute of Ecology had no jurisdiction over the waste water (sewage) situation in SDBB. Since the waste water flows into a river, it is the responsibility of CONAGUA, the National Water Commission. Her department, however, does have responsibility with the illegal dump and is vigorously pursuing a resolution to that problem They have set up a meeting with both Etla and SDBB for February 25th to discuss the matter. Her concern is that they have no authority to impose a fine on Etla (ultimate responsibility), if they do not follow their advice and recommendations. If Etla does not, then they will fine Etla, but if Etla does not pay the fine, they cannot do anything about it.

Water for Humans explained to her that, if a constructed wetland is proposed for the site, then in all likelihood, the area where the dump is now located will be needed for the wetland. She said that, in general, they are supportive of our project and will work with us to implement whatever is proposed. She did say, however, that the soil would have to be tested to make sure that it is useable with whatever is proposed.

To bring CONAQUA into the picture, she suggested that INSO write a letter (for documentation), to the director of IEE, explaining the situation and requesting that CONAQUA get involved to ultimately resolve this issue. In that way, IEE and CONAQUA can work together on this. INSO’s letter to IEE will be instigated by a letter from Water for Humans to INSO.

Later in the afternoon, we met with Juan Jose and Nelly. This was our last meeting to talk about upcoming strategy to move our project forward and the role that Nelly will fill. A formal contract is due from Water for Humans to officially bring Nelly on board as an associate.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Today is the day of INSO’s 25th Oaxaca Water Forum.  The venue for the event is the Botanical Gardens of the Santo Domingo Church, about three blocks from the INSO office.  Water for Humans is on the agenda for a presentation to introduce ourselves to the water interests in Oaxaca and to introduce our project to them.  Maria Gonzalez and Camerino Santiago came from SDBB for this important meeting.

We went to INSO at our normal time to help transport equipment to the Botanical Gardens.  We them helped set up the room and participants starting arriving before the room was completely set up.  The first thing on the agenda was a tour of the gardens.  This was done to make sure that late arrivals would not miss any of the session itself.

The Gardens were beautiful with many varieties of native plants throughout.  There was also a section with a vegetable garden.  Since the tour was in Spanish, we missed out on a lot of the discussion, but the gardens were very nice and tranquil place to reflect.

The first item on the agenda was El Pedegal, set up and run by INSO.  Don Pedro, who donated the land to set up the demonstration site, was in attendance.  Many of the permaculture features that have been put in place were explained and the impact that they have had on the property discussed.

Water for Humans was next.  Nelly spoke for the team, since it was in Spanish for a Mexican audience.  She introduced us, as well as herself, and explained our mission and how we ended up in SDBB with this particular project.  She then went on and explained the situation that we are dealing with and where we are in the project.  At the completion, a question was raised about our affiliation with the constructed wetland at UABJO and Humboldt State University and the Arcata Wetland.  Those who knew about the demonstration wetland at UABJO were glad to know that we are associated with that team (through one of our board members).  A second question/comment came from someone who seemed to be associated with the original treatment plant at SDBB.  She said a lot that never was translated to us.  But after Nelly addressed her concerns, Maria Gonzalez took the microphone and explained to the audience what the community is presently facing.  When she finished, the entire Forum clapped and seemed to like what she said.  There was a lot of support for what we are doing.

When we left the room to allow the forum to continue, all three of us (Nelly, Rick and Stan) were asked questions and given support for the project.  One person who was very interested in constructed wetlands and asking a lot of questions found out that his organization has a meeting set up with us on Monday.  Nelly was interview by two or three reporters and the forum continued and ended about 2 PM.

We helped clean the facility and transport the equipment back to INSO.  This ended a full week for us and we looked forward to a restful weekend.