Civil organizations are concerned about the construction of the Aquaferico

Published January 20, 2021 (sp)

El Charco del Ingenio made public its position regarding the construction of the Acuaferico Allende. They state that the proposal leaves more doubts than answers, not only about the cost and permits, but also about the problems it will generate for the neighbors of the communities where 8 wells will be drilled and the damages to those who consume the vital liquid due to the high content of fluoride, arsenic and probable presence of coliforms (bacteria present in feces).

By means of a letter they state: In October 2020 was presented to the City Council by SAPASMA this vast project to supply water to the city (Acuaferico Allende). According to the presentation made by the director of SAPASMA, a set of eight wells would be drilled on the banks of the Allende Dam, between the communities of San Marcos and Cabras Juan Xidó, to pump water several kilometers to storage tanks at different points in the city, to supply the urban area. The arguments offered were the increased demand for water from new real estate developments and the insufficiency – for the first time accepted – of the existing urban wells to meet that demand.

This project has aroused the disagreement of the community and ejido representatives of the drilling area, who fear losing the supply of their wells, as well as of several local civil organizations, which have questioned the viability of such a project:

How could the water quality of the new wells be assured, whose depth (to date120 meters) predicts the possible presence of fossil minerals such as fluoride and arsenic, and whose contiguity with the Allende Dam makes the infiltration of domestic, animal or agro-industrial waste present in the dam probable? And how could an effective treatment system be installed and maintained in the face of such diverse substances that are so difficult to remove?

What would be the real cost of such an “aquifer”, which includes the drilling of the eight wells, the extraction mechanism, the continuous operation of powerful pumps to lift more than 200 meters high towards the city, the laying of several kilometers of collectors, the construction of storage tanks, as well as the treatment system to ensure water for human consumption?

Considering that groundwater and Presa Allende are strictly federal jurisdiction, are there permits from CONAGUA to SAPASMA or the municipality for the drilling of new wells in that area? Is there the required environmental impact assessment (MIA) approved by SEMARNAT?

Does the drilling project have the consent of the community and ejido authorities of San Marcos and Cabras Juan Xidó, whose wells are neighbors to the projected drilling area?

And finally, what is the quality and water supply capacity of the wells in the upper sub-basin of San Miguel (San Julián 1 and 2, among others), and what is the degree of depletion that was revealed by the director of SAPASMA during the presentation of the “aquifer” project to the City Council?

In an exercise of the constitutional right to information, it would be healthy for the directors of SAPASMA to answer these questions in some way. The citizenry deserves the answers.

SAPASMA’s work has been shut down by federal authorities on three occasions, the first time in the construction of the elevated tank in the Cerro de Moctezuma Center, the second time in the drilling of three wells next to the Allende Dam and the last time again in the construction of the elevated tank in front of the Mirador del Libramiento Manuel Zavala Zavala.