‘We do not want the dam, we want to live in peace’. Photo by Marco Von Borstel.
The Blue Planet Project is opposed to the El Zapotillo dam in Mexico.
The dam would be 105 metres tall, divert the course of the Verde River, involve the construction of a 140 kilometre long aqueduct, flood the towns of Temacapulín, Acasico and Palmarejo, displace the residents of these communities, and submerge cultural heritage sites and farmland.
Business News Americas reports, “Currently work is stopped with the dam wall 79.7m high, due to a court order, according to a report released by the Mexican movement of people affected by dams and in defense of rivers (Mapder). However, additional works on the El Zapotillo dam continue despite the court order, Mapder added. …The supreme court has also agreed to hear a case filed by a resident who has claimed the right not to be relocated and to live in a healthy environment.”
The news report adds, “Construction of the dam began late in 2009 and the project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2015, according to information from water authority Conagua. Meanwhile, construction of the aqueduct started late last year and is expected to be concluded in the second quarter of 2017.”
Mexico City-based Blue Planet Project organizer Claudia Campero Arena has noted, “Temacapulín, like many other towns that have struggled to stop a dam project, has managed to win some legal battles, but in a place like Mexico, winning a court battle is not enough. Unfortunately, the money for a project like this ($1 billion USD is the estimated investment for the El Zapotillo dam), and the political interests at play, make it very difficult to stop.”
In today’s news article, Professor Alberto Serdán says,”There is a legal battle of communities to prevent them from being flooded by a reservoir that wouldn’t be necessary if the cities of León and Guadalajara fixed all their leaks. The volume of water that the El Zapotillo dam will provide will be only for 25 years, so flooding a town to provide water for just 25 years to cities that could solve their water problems with different management of their watersheds, rivers and distribution is crazy.”
In November 2012, Blue Planet Project founder Maude Barlow visited Temacapulín as a panelist with the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal. At that time, she wrote, “They can find this water through conservation, rainwater harvesting, pollution control and protection of source water, and by investing in new pipes and infrastructure. It is a gross misrepresentation of the right to water to violate the rights of some communities to supply water to others and said that, in fact, it is the local people, especially indigenous people, who protect the water and know how to do this.”
For campaign blogs about the Zapotillo dam, please click here.
Photo: ‘We do not want the dam, we want to live in peace’. Photo by Marco Von Borstel.
