Use water lily as fertilizer for “urban forests” [] Turn a problem into solution

Published June 20, 2022

To turn a problem into solution, the Municipal Government is taking advantage of the water lily extracted from the Allende dam to restore its natural ecosystem and generate urban forests in the territory of San Miguel. In this first season, the strategy considers intervening eight urban forests, both in the most populated colonies and in the three schools of upper secondary education (CECyTE, CBTis 60 and CETAC) and some public parks and municipal facilities

The Municipality headed by President Mauricio Trejo, through the Directorate of Environment and Sustainability, is carrying out a strategy called 100 thousand Plants in 100 Days, with which it is foresting and reforesting spaces to have more “green points” in the city and regenerate the rural area.

Currently, the “Cuenca Alta” that covers the municipalities that are north of San Miguel de Allende, is sick with eroded soil, without nutrients, or moisture and without the capacity to produce; in this sense, the water lily is the symptom of the contaminated water that drains and reaches the Allende dam.

In response to this environmental problem, the Municipal Government is taking advantage of the extracted water lily to re-nourish the soil of San Miguel; either to cover the existing natural wooded areas that are currently eroded, as in the ejidos of Los Torres and El Salitre, to help restore a healthy ecosystem, with greater humidity and fertility, by increasing soil moisture and that no longer reaches the Allende dam so eroded again.

In addition, 100 thousand Plants in 100 Days has a category called “Urban Forest” or “Pocket Forest”, in which the natural conditions are emulated for the development of vegetation in the urban spot of San Miguel; that is, adequate nutrition, humidity and radiation are provided for species to grow better, as occurs naturally in ecosystems such as Los Picachos, where Nature fulfills its natural life cycle.

“We are providing the right nutrition, humidity and radiation issues to enhance the growth of plant species. In the soil we will be able to enable these nutrients for our trees, in the same sense it not only gives us chemical nutrition, but also increases the physical fertility of the soil, by increasing the capacity of infiltration and retention of water. Also what helps us is to keep the temperature of the soil stable, like a hat, so that the plants do not have a sudden change in temperature. It is to emulate the conditions that occur in natural areas of vegetation. It does not represent any risk either for the environment or for human health, it is a lily that is already completely dry,” said the deputy director of Environment and Sustainability, Julio Ledezma.

Currently, more than 500 cubic meters of water lily have been used for urban reforestation; that is, 500 tons of plants that are used in these urban forests when the plant dries and becomes a natural fertilizer in each “green point” that the Municipal Government is intervening.

In this first season, the 100 thousand Plants in 100 Days strategy considers intervening eight urban forests, both in the most populated colonies and in the three high school campuses (CECyTE, CBTis 60 and CETAC) and some public parks and municipal facilities.

Since the lily is allowed to dry, it does not pose any risk to human health or the environment, since it cannot be spread by its lack of water; this is part of the global culture of natural conservation and is part of global actions against the impact of climate change.