Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Rotary Achieves Close to Half Million Dollars investment in Clean Water

5th April 2017
Report By Lee Carter, Rotary San Miguel Midday

Rotary San Miguel Midday. in a cooperating partnership with Centro de Desarollo Agropecuario (CEDESA) & the families/communities involved, have built more than 1,000 rainwater catchment cisterns in 54 rural communities within the Independence Aquifer of central Mexico. 

That means 1,000+ families in & around San Miguel now have contamination free water for drinking & cooking for the rest of their lives & the lives of their grandchildren. 

Also achieved as a result of the ongoing investigative efforts of Dr Ortega (of National Autonomous University of Mexico - UNAM), & his findings of the contaminated ground water resulting from depleted Aquifer in San Miguel & the surrounding area. The region's aquifer is contaminated with concentrated excessive levels of arsenic & fluoride (often more than double the levels considered safe to consume, according to the World Health Organization). 

Arsenic & fluoride are not detectable by smell or taste. 1000's of people are unknowingly ingesting toxic water.

Since 2009 San Miguel Midday Rotary  has managed the investment of almost USD$500,000 to help alleviate the problem, & we are just getting started! 

In order to provide clean water to poor rural families, Midday Rotary developed a program whereby Rotary provides the funding & project management to build rainwater catchment cisterns; CEDESA, provides technical expertise, community development skills & training; & labor to construct the cisterns is provided by community members/recipients. 

Rainwater is collected from roofs in a 12,000 liter, ferro-cement tank next to a family home. During the summer rainy season, ample water can be collected & stored to serve a family of seven until the next rainy season. 

Because they are built above ground, the cisterns are easily accessed for maintenance. A three-day education workshop highlighting the importance of water in daily lives, conservation, & maintenance of the cisterns is an integral part of the program.

There is a need for many, many more cisterns; there are at least 10,000 more families in the region whose health & well-being will benefit from replacing contaminated well water with rainwater. 

Rotary, collaborating with CEDESA & the communities themselves, intends to continue to work with international Rotary clubs & The Rotary Foundation (TRF) to provide funding for as long as there is demand for the rainwater collection projects. 

100 more cisterns are scheduled for construction under the current global grant, a partnership with the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise & D5240. The next grant to build an additional 200 cisterns is already being planned. We hope that we can continue to work with D5240 & its clubs will continue to be our international partners.

Midday Rotary’s cistern program reaches well beyond every human’s right to clean water for drinking  & cooking. The thoughtful implementation of this program has proven to be highly effective in organizing communities to collectively analyze their problems & seek solutions. 

Anyone familiar with life in Mexican rural communities, understands that cooperation rarely exists outside the immediate family. And yet more than 1,000 families have managed to work together building cisterns for & with each other. Participation is voluntary. One person from each family commits to 250 hours of meetings, training, & labor. 

Working in teams of six they build one cistern a week for all six families within their group. Personal investment & self-determination are key to the success & sustainability of the program. Communities stay organized by taking advantage of other CEDESA initiatives such as back yard gardening, bee keeping, holistic healing with medicinal plants, & the list goes on.

70% of the cistern program to date has been funded by grants from 23 International Rotary Clubs, 12 Rotary districts & TRF. The remaining 30% has come from strategic alliances with various foundations & the local municipal water board. Significant funding has come from the Lotus Foundation, San Miguel Community Foundation, & the Alberta Canada government. 

It is a great pleasure to see so many different & varied organizations commit to assist this program to support  campesinos as they work to solve their problems & collectively transform into independent & self-sustaining communities.


For more information, please contact Lee Carter, VP of Community Projects: leecarco@gmail.com



San Miguel Midday Rotarians at the 1000th Cistern Celebration 



Chela Martinez of CEDESA and Lee Carter of Rotary San Miguel Midday


Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the 1000th Cistern Celebration


 agua dulce



Rainwater Harvesting in the Independence Aquifer



Lunch at Vivienda de Abajo – 1000th Cistern Celebration

By Lee Carter, Rotary San Miguel Midday