UUFSMA: “What’s Up With Our Water?”

UU Service

“What’s Up With Our Water?”

Dylan Terrell

Sunday, Aug. 4, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel La Aldea

At this Sunday’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Service, Dylan Terrell, Executive Director of Caminos de Agua, examines the serious water issues facing San Miguel and the surrounding watershed region.

The Alto Río Laja Aquifer in northern Guanajuato State, which includes the entire population of the Municipality of San Miguel de Allende, is in a permanent state of decline. Wells are starting to go dry, and the water that remains may contain 10 times or more the World Health Organization recommended limits for arsenic and fluoride – a toxic cocktail linked to dental and crippling skeletal fluorosis, cognitive development issues in children, chronic kidney disease, and numerous types of cancer among longer-term water consumers. The State Water Commission of Guanajuato estimates that 30% more groundwater is extracted from the aquifer than gets refilled naturally by rainfall, leading to a 2-4 meter loss per year. As the water table declines, more wells will go dry and arsenic and fluoride concentrations will continue to rise.

Caminos de Agua has been working to raise public awareness surrounding these complex regional water quality and scarcity issues. In this information session, Terrell will discuss the current state of our aquifer, the work of his organization, public policy initiatives, and be available for an after-service Q/A session.

Caminos de Agua’s mission is to create access to clean water solutions with communities at risk. The organization has been working in the region since 2011 to develop open-source water solutions for communities on our aquifer in Central Mexico, and leverage those solutions for others confronting similar water challenges around the globe. Caminos de Agua works in partnership with local communities, grassroots organizations, government agencies, international NGOs, universities, and leading researchers to innovate and implement water solutions that create adequate access to safe and healthy drinking water supplies.

In June of this year, the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) recognized Caminos de Agua’s work on water solutions when the organization was awarded the Innovation Showcase Award for the development of a new water filter platform called Aguadapt. The organization also works with local communities to install rainwater harvesting systems, develop arsenic and fluoride treatment systems, provide a variety of educational services and materials, impact public policy, and monitor water quality throughout our region and other parts of Mexico to identify changing water quality trends and new risks.

For more information about the UUFSMA, including our Social Action outreach, weekly discussion groups, social activities, and Care Team, join us any Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Hotel La Aldea or visit our website at uufsma.org. Our Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program is on summer break until September.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.

To join our Yahoo group site click on this link:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA/info

Click on “membership”and follow the directions.

Posting a notice on the Yahoo site is easy. Just go to your regular mail browser, type in the address line: uufsma@yahoogroups.com , type your message and hit send!

We encourage you to use this site to communicate with other local UUs.