By Don Patterson
Most importantly, the green fund paid for three of the team’s investigations into the actually environmental conditions in important regions of the municipality and beyond. As you can see from the map in the graphic entitled RESULTS, they covered over 111,000 hectares or 105 micro watersheds. Out of these studies we now know, not only the answers to our three questions, but what the science of watershed ecology was indicating that needed to be done in order to restore proper function. We now had environmental management plans for a large part of the municipality. All of this, without using tax payer monies. This pleased my wife. I was pleased because 12 graduate students got their master’s degrees (UAQ) in Watershed Ecology and Management for the work done in our municipality.
The green fund was also utilized for beginning actually work rehabilitating the watershed, as indicated by the above mentioned studies. Sometimes the fund was the municipality’s contribution to already existing Federal and State programs that dealt with things like; soil rehabilitation, reforestation and environmental education. The graphic entitled, FUNDING INVESTED IN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS, indicates the source of the funding: SEMARNAT (The Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources), CONAFOR (the National Forest Service), SEDESOL (Federal Social Development) among others. It is important to note that both USAID and FONDO MEXICO funded a specialized study concerning the issue of, Paying for Environmental Services, done by Agustin Madrigal and Josh Ellsworth. The actions taken with the funding are indicated on the far right of the graphic. The total amount invested by all those indicated was over $21 million pesos in watershed restoration and education.
The green fund also allowed us to continue the potable well water texting in the municipality begun in the last administration. Finally, augmenting the number of wells tested from 110 when we started to 140. By the middle of 2009 we had discovered over 10,000 people in our municipality drinking water with quantities of fluoride above the national norm. As a result of these numbers we installed 13 water harvesting systems for schools in 11 communities where we found highest concentrations of Fluoride. In the highest case of Fluoride, in Agustin Gonzalez, we also installed a system in their medical clinic.
“I want you to get to the bottom of our environmental problems affecting the municipality.» Jesus Correa, 2006.
