Juan Carlos Castillo Cantero is the Mayor, also known as the “municipal president”, of San Diego de la Unión – a neighboring municipality to San Miguel, which suffers from some of the most severe water quality and scarcity issues in our region. Mayor Castillo has partnered with Caminos de Agua on multiple projects. The following is an interview between Mayor Castillo and Caminos de Agua held earlier this month.
“Our collaboration with Caminos has been transcendental for us…Now we are able to capture rainwater and provide people with a dependable source of healthy drinking water…[achieving] a lot of benefits for the families of San Diego de la Unión."
–Juan Carlos Castillo Cantero
Good Morning Juan Carlos, Can you tell us a little about your position and your work?
I am currently the Municipal President of the Municipality of San Diego de la Unión. We are located in the northern part of the state of Guanajuato, not far from San Miguel where you live. I am now in my second term as Mayor. I was Mayor from 2015 to 2018 and now from 2021 to 2024. We have been increasingly concerned about the water issues and have been raising awareness and our commitment to take action on this critical situation, which is also impacting our entire country and the world. Most people just turn on their faucet and expect to get water, we have to be very concerned with what happens behind that faucet.
Can you share with us how you came to this kind of work?
Since I was a teenager, I had a strong desire to get involved in work to benefit my community. I got involved with the religious side through the church and became a missionary for 10 years – five years here in Mexico and then 5 years abroad. When I returned, I saw clearly that there was a lot of work that needed to be done here, so I started to become involved in the political process. I initially worked on someone else’s campaign, and after that, I became involved in work in various health and social programs. But then people started to encourage me to run for the municipal presidency [to become mayor]. I never considered myself a politician, so it was a big challenge and decision for me. In the end, the need was so great, so I decided to do it.
Starting with your first term, water issues got your attention, what created this involvement?
Unfortunately, like many things, until it is a major problem, people tend not to pay attention. So, as long as they have water, it’s not a problem. And, when you wait until there's a crisis, the solution is going to be very expensive, and many people are going to have very serious health and economic problems. My attention turned to water issues when I attended a Caminos de Agua talk, and I learned about the need to drill so deeply [into our aquifers] and also about the contamination of water in our region. Since then I have learned firsthand that that’s exactly what has been happening here. It became very clear that drought and sickness were going to be a big crisis if we didn’t start formulating a plan and taking action.
What has your experience with Caminos de Agua been like?
After I was at that first talk, we started to have conversations with Caminos de Agua, and they said that the first thing we should do is investigate the state of our wells and create a map of the levels of our contamination. They were working with some Universities from the USA. So we did it. That was the moment when we knew how big the issues that we were facing were. The levels of arsenic and fluoride were way above any reasonable level. When we looked into it deeper, we saw how the health of our people was being affected, and it was serious. It was not just a health or an economic issue, it was also a moral issue. We had to take more action. Caminos de Agua has been helping us build rainwater systems, and we have also been using their filters. Our collaboration with Caminos has been transcendental for us. We used to grab as much as we could when it rained, but we used it to do things like water our gardens and wash floors. Now we are able to capture rainwater and provide people with a dependable source of healthy drinking water. By teaming up with Caminos de Agua we have achieved a lot of benefits for the families of San Diego de la Unión.
Photo: Mayor Juan Carlos (in dark shirt) giving a "fist pump" to Saúl, Caminos de Agua's Coordinator of Community Projects at a rural community belonging to San Diego de la Unión.
What would you say that the major benefits of working with Caminos de Agua have been?
A: It is one thing to be able to have your eyes opened and to see what is in fact happening. That is valuable, and Caminos really helped us do that. But it is quite another thing to be able to take the actions that are necessary to make the solutions a reality. That is where Caminos de Agua was of greatest benefit. They were giving us knowledge and experience, but most of all resources. Resources and expertise that are very hard to find and especially capabilities focused on our region. Their process is one of teamwork, education, training and oversight, customized to our needs. I always felt like they were my partner, and so did the people in communities where projects were being done. The experience has been so successful that we have people in communities (that now have systems) that are willing and want to share their knowledge with people in other communities. I have to say with Caminos it has never been like “here is the big authority coming in.” They have a way of always earning respect first. We still have a long way to go, but we are now on our way, and the awareness of the problems we have created with the help of Caminos has been a big factor along with the way they partner.
Taking into account your experiences, what would you say to Mayors of other municipalities in Mexico dealing with water issues?
As Mayors, today, we are always facing so many new issues like gender, animal issues, aging populations – just as a few examples. So, it can be very difficult to get clear on your priorities. But water is something that is a big deal right now, and it’s going to be a much bigger deal if it’s not addressed. I would also say, don’t fool yourself into thinking things are okay. There are too many examples like Monterrey, which has no water and is dealing with a really major issue. As a leader, Mayors need to take leadership of this issue and keep on top of it, but what Caminos de Agua has taught me is that the local communities have to, in the end, own it. That makes solutions more financially sound. They own it. So, they take care of their system, and they can, because they built it themselves. So, when I’m long out of office, they’ll still be taking care of them. Recently I was in one of the communities, and a lady told me “I used to have water in jars, bottles, and tubs - today I have my cistern and my filter, so my children are no longer drinking bad water”. That makes me a happy man.
Photo: A group portrait of San Diego de la Union community members after comprehensive workshop focused on educating leaders from multiple communities about our water crisis, what it means to community health and how to organize and take action to secure access to clean safe drinking water.
