Cuetzala de la Reforma

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Cuetzala de la Reforma

• A Mexican village in need of consistent, clean
  water

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Introduction

• Cuetzala de la Reforma is a small village
• 2000 people / 200 families
• 5 dogs/family
• 15 chickens/family
• 8 pigs/family
• 20 cows/family
• Typical crop is corn
• Typically have electricity, but no internet
• Rainy season (June August)
• Plenty of water
• Dry season (October May)
• Water must be rationed, and is only for humans.
  Keeping animals and crops often requires families
  to buy water at a premium. Kids get sick several
  times during dry season.

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Where is it?
Cuetzala de la Reforma
Image courtesy UTexas Online Map Library
(http//www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/mexico.gi
f)
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Rough Map of Cuetzala de la Reforma
Acalman Lake during rainy season
Currently for animals only, Dries up during dry
season
Crops
2 miles
Cuetzala de La Reforma 1000 people
100m
Well
creek during rainy season
Dry season 25 gal/person/day June-Aug No water
limits
Flow to large, distant river
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Current Water Sources

• Spring fed Well
• Only nearby potable water source.
• Overflows with water during wet season, excess
  runs to large, distant river.
• Goes underground during dry season. Village must
  use buckets to haul it up. Sometimes animals die
  in/near it. Both can contaminate the spring,
  causing sickness.
• Lake Acalman
• Good for animals during wet season.
• Dries up during dry season.
• Currently not safe for human consumption.

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Spring-fedWell
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Lake Acalman
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Human water needs

• UN recommendations for water are
• 15-20 liters/person/day (5 gallons)
• 30 liters/cow/day (8 gallons)
• 15 liters/goat/day (4 gallons)
• Other sources simply recommend 50
  liters/person/day (13 gallons).
• Using a rough combination of these, Cuetzala de
  la Reforma needs about 4 million gallons/dry
  season.

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Possible Solutions

• An above ground containment lake, but the water
  needs and evaporation might make this
  prohibitively large.
• Rain catchment tanks, which also suffers from
  size limitations.
• Find an additional water source (satellite
  imaging, etc.).
• Place pumps of some sort underground to utilize
  additional water from the current source.
• Water purification systems.

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Funding

• The Mexican government (local, state, federal)
  have traditionally supported projects in
  Cuetzala. It is expected that 25,000 in revenue
  can be generated for this project.

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Community Connections

• There is a group of elders in Mexico that make
  most of the decisions.
• Cuetzala de la Reforma has a Chicago committee,
  Comite Reforma that contributes ideas and assist
  in decision making. It is composed of people who
  formerly live in Cuetzala.
• The official contact for EWB is Rogelio Najera.
• Dinora Najera has been the acting liasion for EWB
  and the community.