San Miguel's Water Crisis

Monday, August 21, 2023 - 1:00pm
CST
Dylan Terrell
Hotel Quinta Loreto Community Room

Desertification and declining access to potable water are central features of global warming and the worldwide environmental crisis. Here in the state of Guanajuato, the majority of the water we use comes from groundwater in underground aquifers, which is being rapidly depleted from overuse as over 85% of available water is used for industrial agriculture. With industrial agriculture comes heavy pesticide and chemical use, which in turn can contaminate limited surface water resources and alter ecosystems. An additional concern is the growing privatization of the world's dwindling freshwater supply.

As wells dry up, as is increasingly the case in our region, communities often have to share the same well and must ration their use of water. In addition, as the water is depleted, wells are drilled deeper and deeper, extracting groundwater contaminated with naturally-occurring arsenic and fluoride. This water is already being consumed in hundreds of communities throughout our watershed. Today, millions of people throughout Mexico are exposed to excessive levels of extremely difficult-to-remove arsenic and fluoride from their water supplies.

Dylan Terrell, the founder and executive director of Caminos de Agua, will describe the current state of our aquifer and discuss the solutions their organization is providing. The mission of Caminos de Agua is "to improve human health and community well-being through adequate and affordable access to clean water." They work in partnership with local communities and grassroots organizations to create long-term sustainable water solutions such as rainwater harvesting along with the production and distribution of their certified ceramic filters. They have helped build over 1,000 large-scale rainwater harvesting systems, and are poised to build thousands more. Most recently, their technology team has developed a low-cost groundwater treatment system that removes arsenic and fluoride from community water supplies.

Upcoming Events

Monday, October 20, 2025 - 1:30pm
CST
Bruce Hobson & Meizhu Lui
Location:
La Biblioteca, Teatro Santa Ana, Insurgentes 25, Centro, San Miguel de Allende

Co-founders of the Mexico Solidarity Project, Bruce Hobson and Meizhu Lui will speak on why North American progressives should understand why Mexico is critical to advancing a vision of socialism and multiracial democracy in the United States.

 

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 12:00pm
CST
Organized by The Reentry Resource Program

You are invited to join a discussion with filmmaker Santiago Esteinou and Cesar Fierro about the new documentaryThe Freedom of Fierro.

César Fierro has just become a free man, and he needs to rebuild his life after being wrongly sentenced to death in Texas. César spent 40 years in prison before being released... Read more

Monday, November 3, 2025 - 1:30pm
CST
Joe Belden
Location:
La Biblioteca, Sala Quezal, Insurgentes 25, Centro, San Miguel de Allende
This mostly forgotten war led to Mexico losing over half its territory and the United States expanding to the Pacific. The lecture examines the political and economic background of the conflict, what led to it, and the roles of such factors as Texas annexation in 1845, slavery, racism, the Democratic and Whig parties, and Manifest... Read more