Tikkun Eco Center Plans to Repair 20 Reservoirs and Plant 50,000 Trees

Published January 21, 2023

By Ben Ptashnik and Victoria Collier

Located in the rural pueblo of San Jose de Gracia, the Tikkun Eco Center has been preparing for the climate change crisis by promoting long-term solutions to water and food sustainability. Many locals will note that our seasons are already rapidly destabilizing. Winters are growing warmer. On our farm, fruit trees that should blossom in spring instead are blooming in December. These changes will only increase, challenging our ability to produce food and for rural campesinos to survive.

Our region receives all its moisture during the short monsoon season, which is becoming both more severe and unreliable. When the rains come too late to plant field crops, as they largely did in 2022, the most vulnerable rural communities see an increase in dangerous immigration to the northern border.

Intensive community gardens, rainwater capture, reforestation, and restoring groundwater are the work of our non-profit permaculture center. We hope to make a significant impact toward resilience against drought and hunger in our arid region and to foster an awareness of the critical need for community planning, action, and mutual aid in the face of climate change.

Recently, Tikkun formed an alliance with the San Miguel de Allende Department of Ecology and other local NGOs to undertake the mission of repairing 20 neglected community rainwater reservoirs, while also addressing the hyacinth plague choking the Presa Allende and the river Laja.

In 2022, we restored the rainwater reservoir in our village of San Jose de Gracia, which has suffered water shortages and rations due to depleted wells. This reservoir historically served four rural pueblos, providing water for both homes and livestock during the dry season. But the reservoir had become filled with dirt over many decades, and the dam had broken down. Last May, after consultations with the town Delegada, Faviola Ruiz, the community of San Jose, voted to excavate the pond and repair the dam. Tikkun organized and oversaw the project, providing engineering, labor, and fundraising.

In just one month, the project succeeded in removing 1,400 large truckloads of good topsoil from the pond, thereby expanding its water storage capacity from less than 2,000,000 liters to over 25,000,000 liters. A quarter of the reclaimed soil was spread back on farmlands above the reservoir from where it had originally eroded. Many local families also received soil to build vegetable gardens.

The community decided to use the rest of the soil for climate-reforestation, to stabilize the uphill lands, and to keep the reservoir from filling again with eroded soil. The Department of Ecology generously donated 1,000 native trees, and the San Jose community organized over 50 tree-planting volunteers who came out on Saturday workdays last summer and fall. Many also came from the expat community. We shoveled soil, ate local tacos, made new friends, and installed what will become a beautiful eco-park. The municipal government has agreed to add a playground and soccer field for children. The community decided to include a gazebo and barbeque grills.

In place of the saying “killing two birds with one stone,” we prefer to say “feeding two birds with one seed.” And so we are seeking to address two environmental crises through this project. To help plant the trees, the San Miguel government donated truckloads of hyacinth (lirio) mulch extracted from the Presa Allende. The explosion of lirios is threatening the survival of the lake, but we found that they are a tremendous resource when used in reforestation projects, as their water-heavy leaves create a mulch that adds nutrients and organic matter to soil. This lowers watering needs by up to 50% helping to ensure the survival of the new trees.

Thanks to Ecology Director Alejandro Castro Lopez, and Ecology Ing. Julio Cesar Ledesma Horta, this model project is now being expanded into a regional project with the collaboration of the municipality, which has committed to identifying 20 more reservoirs in disrepair and donating 50,000 more trees (2,500 per bordo). The municipality will also extract tens of thousands of cubic meters more of lirios from the Presa Allende for compost and mulch.

At Tikkun we practice and teach dryland permaculture system designs that can be implemented on a large scale in all drought-vulnerable regions. What do dryland permaculture practices do? They slow rainwater run-off, reduce or reverse soil erosion, penetrate water deeper into the soil, capture and retain water for the dry season, and restore ecosystems which create lush habitat. Most of all they create water and food security for communities.

The reservoir project evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic when our small farm at Tikkun Eco Center operated a food bank growing produce for vulnerable community members, particularly the elderly and single mothers. The center also initiated a project helping local families plant their own vegetable gardens, aiding them with rainwater catchment, drip irrigation systems, compost, seeds, and starter plants. But the 2022 drought meant many families lacked sufficient water for their gardens.

After restoring the San Jose reservoir, the next phase in 2023 is to build a solar pumping station to bring water from the reservoir up to the village to support animal husbandry and local home gardens.

The Tikkun organization, registered since 2008 in the state of Guanajuato as the Center for Ecological and Economic Sustainability of San Miguel de Allende, A.C, has also been in discussions with a number of other concerned San Miguel NGO groups to collaborate in the implementation of the 20 reservoir restoration projects and the planting of 50,000 trees. We are grateful for the generous support of the San Miguel municipality, for all the volunteers who came to plant trees, and the financial support for our projects from the San Miguel Community Foundation and the Universalist Unitarians. Thanks to all who helped make this project possible.

Tikkun hopes to meaningfully contribute toward collaborative community solutions that can help San Miguel survive and even thrive in a warmer world.