Where: Sapasma, (Head office opposite Liverpool)
When: Wed Aug 13th 2008, 9.15pm
Who: Bob Leonard, Laura Stewart & Enrique Orvañanos (& Cessy – Enrique’s partner)SMA Rotary. Ernesto Lopez (Sapasma, Subdirector de Apoyo Rural)
Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob, Enrique & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Sapasma is the Municipal water organisation, responsible administering & maintaining supply of water (as directed by the Presidencia Municipal - & CNA) to communities in & around SMA
Discoveries/discussion/decisions:
We explained Rotary’s goals. Then specifically asked which of the communities (with a population of more than 150) needed assistance with the supply of or purification of existing supply, of water.
There was a lot of discussion about the feasibility & cost ‘v’ benefit of water collection systems as a total solution. Ernesto explained that most communities were unlikely to be able to store enough water for the whole year (from rainy season to rainy season) & that there needed to be tight controls over who used the water & for what purpose, for example they shouldn’t waste water on their animals therefore depriving neighbours of water.
The current method of water supply by Sapasma is to identify well sites & then pipe the water to as many neighbouring communities as it can reach. There is often dissention amongst communities as they don’t wish (or can’t afford) to share the water.
We asked if the project supplied a cistern & collection & distribution system for the rainy season (& however long it lasted), could Sapasma then truck water to them for the remainder of the season. As long as we had some form of agreement with the people in the community about the conservation & maintenance of the collection system. Ernesto thought that may be a good solution.
Ernesto showed us a map detailing all of the current Sapasma supplied sites – we asked for a copy & were told that we would need to apply in writing to the director (Alfonso) & then we would be supplied with one. It is a comprehensive map showing the entire SMA region, all communities coded by having water or not.
Record of Meeting pg 2 of 2
4th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Ernesto explained that it is essential that a contract is drawn up between the community & the project administrator – ensuring “buy in” from the community. Listing the responsibilities of all parties. We agreed that our approach would be a best practice Developmental approach whereby all stakeholders were involved in all parts of the process from initiation to completion & to ensure it’s ongoing sustainability.
Ernesto showed us a very comprehensive set of books provided by Comision Estatal del Agua de Gto, to members of communities titled
Mejores Comites, Mejores Comunidades. Website www.guanujuato.gob.mx.
They were guides on maintainance, setting up committees to administer the water systems etc, well written to the target audience.
NB They could be a source of other helpful development materials.
Terms to remember:
Comite pro obra.
Comite de agua potable
Apoyo = asístanse
Deposito = cistern/reservoir
Action
Would Enrique –, please write a letter to Alfonso Sautto asking for a copy of the map detailing “donde existen tuberias de agua potable” on Rotary Letterhead – for use in researching the needs for the water project. This would be best in Spanish…
Questions
Enrique – apologies, but since the meeting was entirely in Spanish I may have missed things…
1.did Ernesto make an arrangement for getting the information to us re the communities that have a popn larger than 150 without access (or planned access) to safe drinking water?
2. do you have any info to add, either specifically relating to the project or information for background for the writing of the proposal?
