University of Wisconsin-Madison/Universidad de Guadalajara
Country:
Mexico
Award Date:
2001
Award Amount:
$97,093.00
Cost Share:
$204,568.00
Other Funds:
$373,000.00
Other Partners:
Eight municipal presidents (mayors) from the Ayuquila River watershed; Trout Unlimited; U.S. Department of Education; Kickapoo Valley Nature Reserve Management Board; Kickapoo-Ayuquila Association; University of Wisconsin Foundation; Community Conservation, Inc.; Ingenio Melchor Ocampo; Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve; El Grullo Board of Drinking Water; numerous others
This partnership is developing a replicable model for community-based watershed management that is both ecologically sound and politically sustainable. Among other accomplishments, the partners 1) established an Intermunicipal Committee for the Integrated Management of the Lower Ayuquila Water-shed, with a special fiduciary fund to ensure prompt and flexible funding for watershed management activities; 2) continued their monthly monitoring of the Ayuquila River’s water quality; 3) conducted a study of the potential use of residual water from a sugar mill for irrigation, which would ultimately result in zero discharge into the Ayuquila River; 4) collected and analyzed data on water use and accompanying financial variables; and 5) held numerous meetings with local and national officials on legal, institutional, and financial matters related to the watershed. Local watershed management successes through the partnership have begun to attract the attention of state and national political leaders, and the Ayuquila River drainage model is regarded as a model for all of Mexico.