Inhabitants of the original town of San Lorenzo Acopilco, in Cuajimalpa, stated that in the place “there is never a lack water”so the shortage in the city does not affect them, since the liquid comes from a spring.
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So that it is not necessary, the neighbors from town protect the water which is born from the aquifers, wetlands and dams that are formed by nature.
The locals assured El Sol de México that they defend the liquid of those who seek to take away their natural resources, of water huachicolerosas well as the capital authorities that allow real estate projects that invade their lands.
According to Water Committee Acopilco, “the treasure of the community members” is a tank that is between the recological reserve El Zarco and the Mexico-Toluca federal highway, as it supplies water to 90 percent of the town’s inhabitants.
For 11 years, Mario Vargas Nava has been the representative of the committee, an organization of community members that was born more than 80 years ago to take care of the resources of their springswhich, he stated, benefit the place in the midst of the water crisis in the city.
“The lines we have in our town belong to our forests already ours aquifersthey are not from the mayor’s office, they belong to the original peoplea town that has been maintained by uses and customs, and the water is within our communal lands,” mentioned the 79-year-old man.
San Lorenzo Acopilco It is located on the limits of the capital and the Mexico statebetween a forested strip that is part of the Desert of the Lions National Park and La Marquesa, so it is between natural reserves that have their own resources.
The residents assured that the advance of the urban sprawl has affected them due to the irregular settlements in zones near or to real estate developments in Santa Fe. They also mentioned the construction of the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train. All of them, they said, seek to take away water.
According to the mayor’s office Cuajimalpathe town of San Lorenzo Acopilco is made up of eight colonies that are supplied with spring water from the Leones and Ajolote Dam, which are La Pila, San Miguel Xalpa, Tianguillo, Maromas, Teopazaculco, La Reposadera, Cruz Blanca, Lajas and the town center.
The demarcation informed this newspaper that the leadership of the water that is collected from the runoff of the Leones and Ajolote Dam is in charge of the Water System from Mexico City, which distributes it to the colonies through seven tanks, including La Pila. The inhabitants say that the tank is theirs.
THE WORK
Every Sunday Vargas Nava meets with the neighbors who make up the Water Committee to maintain the six and a half kilometers of pipeline, which goes from the El Zarco area to the La Pila Tankwhich has a capacity of 500 thousand liters of water for between 900 and a thousand families.
At 8:00 a.m., children, young people, adults and grandparents gather at La Pila Church to go take care of the spring.
People carry shovels, machetes and pickaxes to repair any damage that could damage the pipe, but also as a kind of offering and coexistence, they bring food to endure the heavy day.
Outside the church, the residents climb into the back of sheepfold trucks and after 10 minutes of walking along cobblestone streets they make the first stop in Saint Barnabas.
At this point the cars stop, since the only way to continue the path is on foot. Here the community members take the opportunity to drink coffee, atole and eating bread. Then they start with the tmaintenance work in which they supervise that the pipe is not damaged or exposed.
They travel more than 45 minutes on foot through wooded areas, dirt, grass and roads to reach the place where the water sprout is born.
“He water It belongs to those who work it and we would all have to give a little piece of our time to take care of the waterbecause many times we open the key in the house, but we do not give it the value it deserves, that is why here we do not suffer from lack of water like in other parts of the city,” said Gustavo Díaz, who has been on the Committee for more than 10 years.
Currently the storage of Cutzamala System is below 40 percent of its capacity, so some municipalities, including Cuajimalpathey address the shortage with pipes.
The community member said that his father was the one who motivated him to join the committee, since he was also one of the defenders of these lines of water that with the passage of time the residents have improved.
The call for each task depends on the quantity and difficulty of the work that needs to be done. On some occasions up to 200 people gather, but on this occasion there were around 25 residents who dug, cleaned, collected garbage and placed sacks around the pipeline.
“This line has been the most guarded by the population, by our history, because it has been difficult for our parents and grandparents and when it comes to this line, people continue to have the will to defend it, which is why it has been difficult for the people who “They have wanted to alter our supply in some way,” said Gustavo Díaz.
He explained that the reviews are also to prevent and repair any illegal taking, since there are residents from other areas or people outside the town who steal the natural resource.
The member of the committee mentioned that the objective is that the water of the spring be only from San Lorenzo Acopilco. The residents, he said, are the ones who decide whether or not to share the resource with third parties.
The pipe four inches in diameter is divided into two lines: the new and the old, but it does not have any infrastructure to protect it.
The settlers repair and protect pipelineeither with sacks full of earth, rocks or stones.
Once he water reaches the La Pila tank, the neighbors are the ones who enable the hydraulic infrastructure within their homes to reach their cisterns.
The website Water in your Colonyof the Water System of Mexico City, indicates that at least 33 neighborhoods receive water from springs in four municipalities: Cuajimalpa, Álvaro Obregón, Tlalpan and Miguel Hidalgo.
In the case of Cuajimalpa, there are 13 colonies that receive spring water and one from the Cutzamala System.
CARE AND CONNECTIONS
Emmanuel Flores, Engineer Systems and inhabitant of the town of San Lorenzo Acopilcoconsidered that in this town Sunday chores became a tradition, which in addition to bringing the residents together and spending a pleasant day of coexistence, teaches teenagers and new generations to take care of the resource.
“We repair leakschange of new pipeline, because the one that is already deteriorated and has already reached its useful life; We clean and maintain the records, because we have water that is wasted in these receivers that have already reached their useful life.
“When you come home and see that you have waterthat you do not miss a day and that other municipalities are lacking this liquid, it is much more worth working for it,” he commented.
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According to the members of the committee, the only requirement for residents to connect to this line water is that they take care of it and dedicate a day to participate in the tasks.
“Everything has been based on the cooperation of the people who come to work with us, here there is no salary, here we have to cooperate for whatever we need, for a pipe, for structures, a bag of cement or even for to eat, but this is all voluntary, here there was no government resource of any kind,” said the residents.