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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATIONrise to the Program for the Environmental Rehabilitation of theLake Pátzcuaro Watershed. This programme incorporates efforts,resources and wills from:• the federal Government through the Ministry of Environmentand Natural Resources, the National Water Commission and theMexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA)• the Government of the State of Michoacán through the Ministryof Urbanism and Environment• the municipal governments of Pátzcuaro, Quiroga,Tzintzuntzan, Erongarícuaro and Huiramba• the University of Michoacán at San Nicolás de Hidalgo• the Autonomous University of Zacatecas• different non-governmental organizations (NGOs), notably theGonzalo Rio Arronte Foundation• civil society at large.The agreement was ratified by all parties involved on 26 February2008 and concluded in 2011.In order to promote the programme and foster the participationof the population, several cultural activities were developed, especiallyamong children. One of these was a workshop titled ‘Uno,dos, tres por mí y por toda la Cuenca’ (‘One, two, three for meand all the watershed’) 1 , which took place in the city of Quirogawith the participation of more than 300 children. Other workshopson environmental education included ‘Encaucemos el Agua’(‘Let’s Give Water a Course’), ‘Water Culture for Children’, environmentaleducation workshops with a gender approach for menand women of the four lakeside municipalities, training of trainersworkshops, environmental and water culture workshops, and thespecial workshop ‘Discover a watershed: Lake Pátzcuaro’. The latterwas inspired on the Discover a Watershed series from the USA-basedInternational Project Water Education for Teachers, a guide forwhich was published by IMTA in collaboration with the Ministryof Environment and Natural Resources and the Government of theState of Michoacán, with the financial support of the Gonzalo RíoArronte Foundation.Some 225 courses and workshops have been imparted, coveringdiverse topics such as fostering social participation, environmentaleducation and culture, training needs, management and operationof wastewater treatment plants, adaptation and transfer of appropriatewater technologies, and training of trainers. To date, morethan 2,500 people have been trained, among them 1,206 primaryeducation teachers.With the aim of raising awareness on environmental problemsamong the population, motivating social participation and disseminatingachievements, a brochure for promoting the campaign forthe management of solid waste was produced with a print run of110,000 copies. Ten thousand copies of the children’s bookletDiscover Lake Pátzcuaro were produced and distributed and 100sets of the board game Discover a Watershed: Lake Pátzcuaro wereproduced. Three video documentaries – Water, the Lake, Our Life;What we Know about our Forests; and The Lake that Drinks from theTrees – were produced and 100 copies of each distributed. And 100copies of the multimedia Discover a Watershed: Lake Pátzcuaro wereproduced and distributed for use in public schools.The Information Centre on the Mexican Salamander (anendangered species known locally as ‘achoque’) was improved,equipped and provided with additional bibliographical material.At the Regional Centre of Education and Training for SustainableDevelopment in Pátzcuaro, and at the BiotechnologyUnit of Tzurumútaro, demonstrative areas weredeveloped for the transfer of appropriate water technologies.Four environmental education areas (knownas ecological houses) were installed in the four lakesidemunicipalities of the watershed: Pátzcuaro,Erongarícuaro, Quiroga and Tzintzuntzan. A dedicatedwebsite was created and several radio and televisionprogrammes were produced. All of these effortshave helped reach out to the population at all levels,which has led to an increasingly participative, betterinformedsociety with more openness and interest inthe programme.In compliance with the National Water Law, the LakePátzcuaro Watershed Commission was created withsupport from the programme. It was installed on 18May 2004 as an ancillary body of the Lerma-ChapalaWatershed Council to help identify problems andsolution proposals, and support decision-making. Thecommission comprises representatives of all the sectorsand water users involved in the watershed. Among theirfirst actions, its members made a formal commitmentto the programme in order to ensure its continuity andtake on the responsibility of its follow-up and evaluation,so that guidelines could be issued to attain andmaintain the sustainable development of the watershed.In order to improve and increase infrastructure andpractices for treating the wastewater generated in thewatershed that flows into the lake, several studies weredeveloped that have enabled the analysis and assessment,using hydrodynamic models, of proposals for contaminationcontrol. Water collectors have been rehabilitated andfive wetlands have been created for the treatment of ruralwastewater. Prominent among these are Cucuchucho,Santa Fe de la Laguna, Erongarícuaro, San JerónimoPurenchécuaro and San Francisco Uricho, whose treatedwastewater quality now exceeds the requirements of theofficial Mexican standards. In addition, part of the treatedwastewater is used for small-scale agricultural productionand the plants that grow there, such as reed and chuspata(a type of thin cane), are used for producing local handcrafts.In the same context, the rehabilitation of existinginfrastructure has been promoted and supported, as inthe case of the San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro biodigester.Together, these small rural works and actions benefitmore than 10,000 inhabitants in rural areas, around40 per cent of the population with the highest level ofpoverty. Treating wastewater also contributes to thereduction of waterborne diseases which especially affectthe child population, and enhances the image and qualityof touristic services.Noteworthy projects in the area of sanitation includethe main collector of the Guani River and the rehabilitationof the San Pedrito and Las Garzas wastewatertreatment plants in Pátzcuaro. With these works, 120litres per second (l/s) of wastewater can be treated,which represents close to 60 per cent of the totaldischarges within the watershed. Since both plantscomply with regulatory requirements, they were[ 230 ]