Raising the awareness of people and communities regarding the water situation, its impact, and the possibility of contributing to its changE.
Monitoring the situation
Since 2012, we have continuously sampled and tested water quality from rural wells and urban taps throughout the watershed. We have tested more than 280 sites throughout the region, and we work closely with community groups like United Communities for Life and Water (CUVAPAS) and Pozo Ademado Community Services (SECOPA) to inform rural villages of their water quality issues. We collaborate closely with research institutions like Texas A&M University, the University of Guanajuato, Kansas State University, and Northern Illinois University to undertake and validate these studies.
Recently, we’ve begun incorporating other indices into our monitoring program, including scarcity, historical water access, cost, and community water conflicts; developing a more complete understanding of regional water issues.
We believe in "open-data." The water quality data we collect is shared openly with those affected and the greater general public. We also share our data with the National Water Quality Inventory (INCA in Spanish), and we post water quality test results on our interactive map. We provide public datasets and all of our records are available for public inspection upon request.
Dissiminating the Information
As a goal to be achieved, the first steps in this line of action are based on a project recently approved by the municipality entitled: "Educational tools to strengthen and promote the human right to water."
With the obtained resource, complete packages of materials (which include 4 forms and a kit of cards, games and USB) will be distributed to 13 local actors, two of them coalitions of organizations.
A brief workshop will be given to the 29 collaborating organizations - at the municipal level and at the basin level - modeling the use of the material. They will be invited to test and implement the workshops with the aim of MULTIPLYING our mission and joining forces to promote the capture of rain as human consumption. * For more details, visit the project.
Conducting Activities and Workshops
Caminos de Agua has been facilitating educational and technical training workshops for years through the construction of rainwater catchment systems for human consumption.
We are currently releasing two new publications that support this work: a guide for the installation of rainwater systems in plastic tanks and a workbook that structures our Educational Program through 6 thematic modules. The topics are: water context, pollution, health, solutions, rain catchment systems and biological treatment.
In this line of action we rely on the workbook, proposing 6 workshops to the different groups and we designed a menu of activities with ideas to be carried out in 2 hours by different facilitators.
In addition, a strategy for dissemination and access to activities on social networks such as local radio, Facebook, Instagram, website was designed.