Speaking Of Lake Chapala
By Eileen Collard

    Over 110 people showed up for the Amigos del Lago annual meeting on March 3. We appreciate everyone’s patience with logistics and translation between Spanish and English. And we want to thank everyone whose behind-the-scenes efforts made the event go smoothly.
    Dr. Todd Stong welcomed everyone with words of hope for Lake Chapala. Dr. Stong is a practical and experienced person—a civil engineer who spends time each year in the lakeside area and who has offered to be a volunteer resource to our organization. He spoke about his faith that people who put their minds to it and work with others in the community to care for our lake and protect our water can definitely make a positive difference.
    Here are some of Dr. Stong’s thoughts on what communities could do, using volunteers and relatively small amounts of money.
    · Convince the government to release information they have about the quality of the lake water so that we know, for sure, what we’re dealing with. No cost if people talk to people in government that they know or write personal letters.
    · Harness the power of the sun to treat waste water in communities where treatment plants don’t exist or aren’t working well. This would involve digging a series of low-cost stabilization ponds to treat waste water before it goes into the lake. Estimated cost for a small town: $170,000 pesos.
    · Reduce water contamination and odor in waters adjacent to Lake Chapala by extending wastewater plant effluent pipes to locate further into the lake. Estimated cost for a 60-meter extension for any given town: $60,000 pesos.
    · Test an adequate number of lirio samples from different sites to see the amount of heavy metals they contain. Estimated cost: $1,000 per plant.
    · Find a cattle farmer to participate in an experiment to understand the nutritional and economic aspects of providing dried and chopped lirio as a livestock feed supplement as done in Asia. Estimated cost for an experiment: $15,000 pesos, with staff supplied by volunteers and/or university students.
    · Find out what towns around the lake charge for water, as a starting point for discussing how people value water and what kind of payment system would be fair. Estimated cost $4,000 pesos for computer and presentation assistance.
    · Conduct a pilot study of hydroponics to compare a plot where half the crop is raised with hydroponic feeding and half with normal fertilization and watering.
    · Conduct a pilot test of drip irrigation vs. ditch irrigation methods in several vegetable plots and monitor results.
    · Use a GPS device to measure the depth of the lake at 30 points, to update available maps from the early 1980s Estimated cost: $1,900 pesos.
In addition, here are some ideas for how you, at home, can make a difference:
    · Learn from Ajijic and Chapala’s experiences with recycling paper, cans, bottles and plastic, and set something up in your community.
    · Use existing curriculum materials to train people to do ecology education with interested communities around the lake. Estimated cost: $1,500 pesos to train 30 people to conduct community-level training.
    · Speak out—more visibly and creatively—against attempts to take even more lake water from Lake Chapala to supply the needs of Guadalajara residents.
    · Work with other communities around the lake to conduct water conservation campaigns, using available community media (such as printed flyers, cable TV, newspapers, and cars with loudspeakers).
    At the meeting, we also collected dozens of ideas from people about what Amigos del Lago should focus on. The largest number of comments show people’s concerns about the lirio, the quality of the lake water, the level of the lake, and the need for ecology education. We cannot do any of these without more involvement from community people—from both the Mexican and the foreign communities. Where does your passion lie? What could you contribute to make any of these things happen in your community?
    Already, Dr. Stong has already been approached by people in Jocotepec, Trojes, Santa Cruz, and Poncitlán about helping them use the sun to clean waste water more effectively. That’s one key to reduce the amount of lirio—reduce the amount of raw sewage available for lirio to feed on. Finding money for such efforts is, of course, a challenge; but perhaps there are local companies or individuals who would help sponsor some of these projects. Please contact us if you know possible sponsors!
    Please let us know what is happening in your community. If we can connect people to things that are already going on, so much the better. If you want to contact Dr. Stong, he is at tdstong@juno.com. To reach Amigos del Lago, send an e-mail to info@amigosdelago.org or leave a message for our President, Alicia Córdova, at 766-0802 in Ajijic. We welcome your ideas and energy.