1 Million Liters of Safe Drinking Water in Mexico

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters, 

We are very excited to be updating you all on the incredible advances we in Caminos de Agua have been making with our Rainwater Harvesting Program in 2022. In our last report, we let you know that we succeeded in building 169 new large-scale rainwater harvesting systems in 2021. Those systems represent nearly 2 million liters (more than 500,000 gallons) of clean water storage, which tripled our impact from 2020. 

This year, we are on track to double our impact from 2021! 

We have been running strong with our “Agua y Salud” (Water & Health) Project. Largely funded by the Gonzalo Río Arronte, as well as individuals like you, Agua y Salud is a three-year project that allows us to greatly expand our impact across the region – building rainwater harvesting systems, composting toilets, and installing filters in hundreds of homes, impacting thousands of people, across 35+ communities in northern Guanajuato state in Mexico. In this project, we are also testing community wells for excessive levels of arsenic and fluoride, and we are helping build the capacity of a new generation of community leaders through our “Water Learning Community” (WLC) – an ongoing workshop series held with dozens of community members every quarter. 

So far in 2022, we have 75 new rainwater harvesting systems being built, or already finished, in 21 different communities in three different municipalities for our Agua y Salud project. All of these systems are being implemented in partnership with grassroots collaborators CUVAPAS, SECOPA, and the San Cayetano Community Center. Additionally, we have implemented four Water Learning Community sessions, led by our partners at INANA, A.C. 

In our last report, we also mentioned how all of this work has led to a massive new collaboration with Rotoplas – a well-known Mexican Corporation with more than 40 years of leadership in the water sector. The name Rotoplas has become synonymous with water storage in Mexico and throughout much of Latin America. So, we are very excited to announce that they are now partnering with Caminos de Agua in our fight against water scarcity and contamination issues here in northern Guanajuato. 

Given Rotoplas’ leadership as by far the largest provider of water storage cisterns and tanks in Mexico, and possibly all of Latin America, they are keenly aware of the growing water issues and threats we are facing in our region. That’s why they generously donated 75 rainwater systems to Caminos de Agua in early 2022, including 5,000-liter capacity cisterns and the other components necessary to capture and store rainwater. This important donation is worth over USD $120,000. These cisterns, and other needed materials Rotoplas is providing, will make a huge difference in our ability to help families in need secure a lifetime of clean drinking water this year. 

Along with new support from the Alstom Foundation, who also joined in our Rainwater Harvesting Progam this year, we have installed 37 of these Rotoplas rainwater systems so far in the communities of Los Ricos, Presa Allende, and Salitrillo, bringing our total to 112 rainwater systems this year to date, and counting. 

Our more than 10 years of experience working to understand the many aspects of our regional water crisis and find ways to help mitigate its public health and economic consequences, has helped us to continue bringing in new spheres of stakeholders, including local governments who are now starting to understand the depth of this crisis and are starting to take action. With that, after working behind the scenes for some time, in late April we signed an agreement with the Mayor and Municipal Government of San Diego de la Unión to build an additional 150 rainwater harvesting systems together this year. San Diego de la Unión has some of the most severe water quality and scarcity problems in the entire region, and we are excited that government is stepping up to extend our impact together. 

Groups like Rotoplas and the Municipality of San Diego are helping substantially by providing materials. But, in order to make this a reality, Caminos de Agua needs to raise additional funds to be able to work hand-in-hand with the targeted communities to provide educational programs, technical trainings, support community organization processes, install the systems, ensure their proper upkeep and maintenance, and provide other critical services that make this work successful and sustainable in the long-term. 

Our supporters are a vital and integral part of our ability to pursue our mission and our achievements to date. Thank You! There is no question that your generosity has directly helped lead to the decisions of Rotoplas, the Gonzalo Rio Arronte Foundation, local government, and so many others, to partner with Caminos de Agua. While our accomplishments together are significant, the water crisis in our region continues to worsen rapidly. Families and whole communities are losing access to their water as wells dry up and are finding the water that is available to them is contaminated and creates serious health risks. As we stand ready to take the next important steps to change that for as many more people as possible, please join us as a partner for change and make a contribution today. 

On behalf of the entire Caminos de Agua, and all of our partners, we sincerely thank you so much for all of your support. 

Saludos,
Dylan and the Caminos Team