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Project #2
LOS TORRES
Start Date: May 2024
Status: Phase 1 complete
Next Phase: Watershed restoration, terracing and reforestation
Immediate Budget Needs: $170,000 Pesos
LOS TORRES RESTORATION
In May-June 2024, Tikkun completed Phase 1 of the restoration of a critical reservoir in Los Torres, an Ejido farming village of about 500 campesinos located in the hilly edges of the San Miguel de Allende municipality watershed.
In this, our second major climate adaptation project, we are happy to be partnering with two other NGOs: Caminos de Agua and the Querétaro-based INANA organization. This comprehensive program is supported by the San Miguel Community Foundation, the Rio Arronte Foundation, as well as a number of other family foundations and private donors.
Test reports published by Caminos de Agua show that the Los Torres community's two wells have highly toxic levels of fluoride and arsenic. It was determined that their water and their well for animals are both unsafe for drinking and cooking. Yet most in the community are forced to use the water, with no alternatives.
The only safe water supply is the reservoir that the community calls the Bordo “Las Piedras”, located 5 kilometers west from the village. Las Piedras has become increasingly dysfunctional for many decades because it has not been maintained.
PROJECT TIMELINE
Mid-2023:
Community leaders representing the Ejido came to Tikkun to see our first reservoir rehabilitation project in San Jose de Gracia. They formally requested assistance with their reservoir.
Early 2024:
Tikkun met with Ejido leaders and organized community meetings to explain and gain support for the project. We then dug initial test holes of the reservoir, determining its depth, and studied the topography. By Spring we received funding to move forward with the restoration.
May-June, 2024:
Phase 1 Completion: building a road for machinery to reach the reservoir, excavating the siltified reservoir, expanding its capacity to 30 million liters and repairing its dam.
The Los Torres community was deeply involved and assisted throughout the entire process, including clearing brush and cutting trees. The community organized a fiesta to celebrate at the completion of Phase 1.
July 2024: Phase 2
Repair the surrounding watershed through terracing and reforestation, allowing for more penetration of rain into the subsoils and stabilization of the soils.
The reforestation reverses soil erosion, creates shade and wildlife habitat, and begins the process of water table regeneration, ecological restoration, and climate change resiliency.
Help us restore water and food security and ensure climate change resilience in San Miguel.
