How Much Rain is Needed to Thrive?
Located no more than an hour and a half’s drive northeast of downtown San Miguel, nestled deep in the backroads behind the urban center of San Luis de la Paz, lies the small rural community of La Jarrilla. There, Flor María Cruz Padrón, paints a grim picture of the water crisis affecting her village:
"The community's problem is that the water from the well is not drinkable [because of arsenic and fluoride], so we have to look for other alternatives to get healthier water. [But] bottled water is very expensive... nowadays, we spend a lot on garrafones (water jugs). It's not like it used to be when even the wells had water that was supposed to be good for drinking. That doesn't exist anymore, and that's the biggest problem: we can't drink the water…"
Photo: Flor María Cruz Padrón (in the middle), working on the construction of a Rainwater Harvesting System.
La Jarrilla is just one of hundreds of rural villages in San Luis de la Paz, a neighboring municipality to San Miguel de Allende. Many of these villages receive water only once or twice a week, and the water they do get is often highly contaminated. Testing conducted by Caminos de Agua has revealed that fluoride and arsenic levels in the municipality's water are alarmingly high — more than 18 and 23 times above acceptable limits, respectively, in some cases. The highest we’ve ever registered. These contaminants pose severe health risks, including dental and skeletal fluorosis, chronic kidney disease, developmental issues in children, skin lesions, and various cancers.
Despite this dire situation, La Jarrilla now has Rainwater Harvesting Systems thanks to a very long collaboration between Caminos de Agua and CUVAPAS, a grassroots organization whose acronym stands for "United Communities for Water and Life" in English. Flor María expounds on what this means to her:
“I was inspired to capture rainwater by seeing others [with CUVAPAS] do it, as well as to improve the health of my family and my community.”
Photos: A group of community members and staff from Caminos installing a Rainwater Harvesting System.
CUVAPAS has been at the forefront of addressing these water issues and implementing solutions together with Caminos de Agua throughout the region for more than 13 years. Together, we’ve sampled dozens of community wells and built hundreds of rainwater systems with accompanying filtration, impacting thousands who are most affected by our crisis or at risk.
Where regional governments often fail to meet the needs of distant communities like La Jarrilla, organizations like CUVAPAS become all the more vital. They provide communities with accurate information, educational workshops, and technical training while empowering residents to take control of their water future. Luz Villafuerte, one of the women leading this transformative effort, emphasizes this approach:
"A grassroots organization [like CUVAPAS] has the responsibility to ensure that communities themselves take ownership of the process, actively participating in a continuous learning and leadership experience."
Together, in recent years, we’ve expanded our reach in CUVAPAS communities to address another critical need: proper sanitation. Where water scarcity is severe, proper sanitation often gets overlooked as a major health and social concern, and organizations like CUVAPAS help us keep our finger on the pulse of the growing needs in local rural villages. In 2020, we at Caminos de Agua launched a massive three-year project called “Agua y Salud” (“Water & Health”) in partnership with CUVAPAS, Inana, A.C., the Gonzalo Río Arronte Foundation. Luz and her team at CUVAPAS advocated for the inclusion of dry, composting toilets into the larger “Agua y Salud'' framework. These hygienic, waterless toilets allow families to conserve their limited water supply for other essential needs, or provide personal sanitation where there isn’t any. Today, many families are experiencing the dignity of their first bathroom and are helping to expand this crucial technology.
“We didn’t have a toilet at all. I have three daughters, and we would have to go to dangerous places to meet our basic needs. Now that we have [a dry toilet], I feel really fortunate. It’s such a blessing because I can finally provide a dignified living situation for [my daughters].”
– Gabriela, a member of CUVAPAS from the community of San Cayetano, shares how this program has transformed her family's life
Photo: A group of beneficiaries standing in front of their dry toilet.
The story of CUVAPAS demonstrates the power of unity and grassroots efforts, and its leader, Luz Villafuerte, reminds us of the impact collective action can have:
“There are so many things that make us stronger together. Caminos de Agua is in San Miguel, and we (CUVAPAS) are in San Luis de la Paz, but we all belong to the same watershed. By being united, we make the [water crisis] visible, which allows us to propose solutions to government and authorities, solutions that are affordable, practical, and real; solutions that actually reach people… because buying bottled water that costs 42 pesos each? That’s not a solution.”