Frontera NorteSur March 2003

Mexicali Gets a New Lung? Lakes to be Restored 

According to La Crónica newspaper, "a new 'lung' could blossom for Mexicali with the restoration of the Laguna México." For years now, all levels of government in Mexicali have been working on beginning the restoration of the 149 hectare (368 acre) system of lakes that make up the Laguna México. The "lung" that the article refers to is the reforestation part of the initiative which will include the planting of thousands of trees in the area. 

While older Mexicali residents remember the Laguna México as a place of relaxation, its current condition does not inspire such positive feelings. For years, the lake's waters and banks have been the dumping ground for construction waste, used tires and toxic chemicals. While birds and aquatic life continue to survive there, their numbers diminish every year and the lake could soon die if the situation is not soon reversed, according to an article in La Crónica. 

Connected to the Laguna México are the Laguna Campestre and the Laguna Xochimilco. To save the lakes, city councilor Jorge Mancilla Villa, who is also head of the Mexicali Ecology and Urban Development Commission, said that three things need to happen. First, companies and people must be kept from throwing garbage into the area, the ecosystem must be cleaned up to preserve aquatic life and birds and, finally, Mexico must declare the area a federal environmental reserve. 

Some of the many agencies and groups involved in the clean-up project besides the Ecology and Urban Development Commission, are the federal government's Semarnap and Profepa, state environmental agencies, architecture and planning students and professors, and a number of civil engineers. 

Holding back the restoration has been the politicization of the project. PAN members of Mexicali's Ecology and Urban Development Commission are angered that PRI member Jorge Mancill Villa has allegedly been acting like the project has been solely his initiative. 

Jaime Díaz Ochoa, Mexicali's mayor, made campaign promises to clean up the lakes and said that he has been working hard with state and federal officials to begin the restoration. Currently, the project only needs the mayor's signature to get underway but La Crónica did not mention when this might occur. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), February 6, 2003. Article by Samuel Murillo. 

Tijuana Area Beaches Still Littered and Polluted Despite Efforts

Rodolfo Anguiano, head of the Baja California environmental organization Grupo Ecologista Gaviotas, says that government has not done enough to protect Tijuana area beaches. Untreated waste water, garbage, illegally sited housing and access to the beach are the major problems that have not been resolved, according to Anguiano. 

Anguiano said that, in the past, pressure by Grupo Ecologista Gaviotas helped bring together federal environmental officials, state officials and Tijuana and Rosarito mayors to sign a coastal environmental accord on July 25, 2002. 

However, Gaviotas and people living near the beach contend that very little or nothing has changed along the coast since July. 

Mónica Arreola, who lives near the beach, told the Tijuana newspaper Frontera (no relation to FNS), that she wanted to help better the area. "Myself and some neighbors have gotten together to clean the beach but it's impossible. It's a never-ending story, people keep throwing garbage, even old cars," Arreola said. 

Source: Frontera (Tijuana), February 10, 2003. Article by Daniel Salinas. 

Samalayuca Sand Dunes Mined 

The Ciudad Juárez newspaper El Diario describes the Samalayuca sand dunes as the fourth most beautiful desert in the world. Located south of Cd. Juarez, the dunes have been mined for a decade by their owners in the Villa Luz community. Villa Luz is an ejido meaning that community residents collectively own their land. 

Between October 23, 2002 and January 22, 2003, Villa Luz had a permit to mine approximately 7,000 cubic meters of sand from the desert. It sold the sand, as it has for ten years, to a Sonora mining company that uses it as a combustion accelerant in the copper smelting process. The mining company pays Villa Luz US$3 per cubic meter meaning that the ejido earned US$22,500 from its last permit. 

The removal of the 7,000 cubic meters of material meant that a hectare of sand with 30 meter (90 foot) high dunes was lost from the desert. However, Villa Luz says that the dunes are a renewable resource and that after a few months the area will look the same as it was prior to the extraction of the sand. 

Explaining why the ejido mines, Efrén Nerváez, the Villa Luz treasurer, said, "First of all we do it because we need the money, secondly because we have the resource, but not to exploit it in an irrational way."

Although an environmental impact statement, Number 1795-2002, was done before the mining began, El Diario laments that it has not had access to its findings. 

Source: El Diario, February 5, 2003. Article by Luz del Carmen Sosa.