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by Alfredo T. Ortega
Departamento de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable
de Zonas Costeras
Universidad de Guadalajara
aortega@costera.melaque.udg.mx
The
following case study was provided by Alfredo T. Ortega from
the Departamento de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable
de Zonas Costeras at the Universidad de Guadalajara. The
original was written in Spanish and has been translated
by Tom Yuill of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental
Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both Spanish
and English versions are provided. The case study offers
an opportunity for students to apply the concepts of restoration
to the current management efforts at Laguna del Tule, Mexico.
While reading about Laguna del Tule, consider how you might
attempt to restore this lagoon. Your insights as well as
questions presented at the end of the case study can be
used to facilitate a dialogue between each university as
well as among restoration ecologists working on Laguna del
Tule.
Abstract
A pilot experiment on integrated management for the coastal
zone of Bahia de Navidad, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico,
was started in 1999, establishing three phases or generations;
the first one concerns the restoration and conservation
of Laguna del Tule as a natural protected area and proper
management of waste waters on the bay area, the second phase
considers a master plan for the management of Laguna Barra
de Navidad, and the third phase includes proper urban development.
Essential to this process is the integration of the Consultative
Council for the bay, with the participation of all the social
actors in a community-based planning strategy. The University
of Guadalajara Departamento de Zonas Costeras and the municipality
of Cihuatlan, Jalisco, are the leaders of this complex process
and are essential in meeting these objectives.
Introduction
Located in an important tourist and economic zone, Bahia
de Navidad is a medium- sized bay (ca 4 km of coastline
from Graham Point to Melaque Point) at the Central Pacific
Coast of Mexico. It covers a significant portion of the
coastline of Cihuatlan Municipality at Jalisco state, and
a small portion of Manzanillo Municipality in the state
of Colima. Main ecosystems in the bay are rocky shorelines,
sandy beaches, two coastal lagoons and inland low flatlands
with intense agriculture use.
Weather
is warm subhumid (25° C yearly average temp., 800-1200
mm/year rain). The ocean portion of the bay is a complex
and dynamic system, affected by Northern equatorial and
Baja California oceanic currents, which produce high marine
diversity and non-abundant fish populations. Four watersheds
feed the hydrology of the bay; the Marabasco River and the
Arroyo Seco River feed into the Laguna Barra de Navidad,
the small Jaluco creek feeds year round into the Laguna
del Tule, and Arroyo El Pedregal enters into the north portion
of the bay.
Four
communities inhabit the bay area; Barra de Navidad (2,965
pop.), San Patricio Melaque-Villa Obregón (6,263
pop.), Jaluco (2,076 pop.) and Emiliano Zapata (1,340 pop.)
accounting for a total population of 12,644 (INEGI, 1995).
In the last 30 years the main economic activities shifted
from agriculture, livestock, and fisheries to tourist services
and commerce (47% of economically active population in 1995),
enforcing a strong urbanization process, which has important
environmental effects. At Laguna del Tule (121 ha), the
main ecological problems are heavy organic pollution from
the wastewater from the surrounding populations, the filling
of the basin for urban development, and degradation of the
flora and fauna.
The
main environmental problems of Laguna Barra de Navidad (600
ha) are the accumulation of silt, pollution and the reduction
of the contours and basin of the lagoon by urban and tourist
development. Social problems include land property conflicts,
poverty, health problems, strong economic differences, political
conflicts, strongly disunited communities, and a lack of
proper urbanization and economic development policies.
A specific definition of Bahia de Navidad is lacking, therefore
its physical space can be delineated in different ways according
to the application of the following criteria: oceanographic,
hydrological, biological, ecological, as well as social,
demographic, urban, rural, political and cultural. The bay
is a complex environmental and social system, the definition
of which should be undertaken with an integrated, interdisciplinary
focus.
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Palm
trees in Laguna del Tule |
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In
November of 1999 during the 2nd International Diploma Course
on Integrated Management of Coastal Zones, Departamento
de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Zonas Costeras
from University of Guadalajara and the Municipality of Cihuatlan,
state of Jalisco, decided to work together to start an integrated
management project for the Laguna del Tule and Barra de
Navidad with support from federal agencies. On June 16,
2000, the document entitled “Pilot Project for Integrated
Management of the Coastal Zone of Bahia de Navidad”
was presented to representatives of all the social groups
and sectors of the bay. A mechanism for community participatory
planning and social coordination named “Consultative
Council of the Bahia de Navidad” was proposed. This
consultative council is overseen by the President of the
Cihuatlan Municipality with legal support in the Municipality
Cabildo Act of June 30. The Consultative Council was formally
established on July 26, 2000, with a total of 71 members
representing hotels, restaurants, fishing cooperatives,
ejidos (communal land property), general commerce, universities
and research centers, federal, state and municipal government
agencies, and non-government organizations (NGOs). This
constituted the first time in the history of the bay that
all the social actors worked together to look for common
solutions for their common problems. In a short time, October
10, 2000, two work groups were created within the Consultative
Council: one to work on the first phase of the project,
the Laguna del Tule rescue and conservation, and other responding
to a social pressure to start with the second phase of the
general project, Laguna Barra de Navidad.
Scientific
work on the first phase of the project started in 1999 with
an estimation of the volume of wastewaters that were flowing
into the Laguna del Tule basin from the surrounding villages,
along with initial biological and ecological studies. An
interesting technical team of engineers, economists, lawyers,
tourism and business experts was assembled with professors
from several departments of Centro Universitario de la Costa
Sur (University of Guadalajara) campus at Autlán,
Jalisco, to which the Department of Coastal Zones belongs.
They worked together to prepare the Technical Document for
the Proposal of Decree for the Natural Protected Area named
“Parque Ecológico Municipal Laguna del Tule”,
which was presented to the Municipality of Cihuatlan in
March of 2001.
Based
on that technical document, the municipal government of
Cihuatlan started administrative negotiations with two federal
agencies to obtain control of the lagoon’s basin in
order to present the proposal of decree to create the “Parque
Ecológico Municipal Laguna del Tule” at the
State of Jalisco Congress. With a pause in the momentum,
these negotiations started in February of 2002.
Essential
to the project objectives was the construction of a new
water treatment plant for the villages of the bay region.
Negotiated by the Municipal government and funded by the
State government, this modern plant is a long-term solution
for the historical wastewater problem as well as a safeguard
for the recovery of Laguna del Tule. The treatment plant
is currently under construction. Concurrently, the Municipality
is fixing the sewage systems of the villages on the bay.
Once the sewage systems are functional, the Bahia de Navidad
will return to a healthy state for its inhabitants and numerous
visitors. The conservation of Laguna del Tule has generated
public support, which includes student works and research
projects at secondary and high school levels as well as
a campaign of Environmental Education with the participation
of municipality, numerous schools and NGOs. |
