Water Guardians: Community monitors in Biobío evaluate water quality in the face of climate change

Creating resilient and creative communities in the face of water scarcity, water pollution and climate change has been the transversal motivation of a project that received support from our foundation through the FMA Grant. Based on the need to generate data autonomy to understand the ecology of rivers and basins in order to protect and design alternatives, the Participatory Community Sampling Network (MCP) was created with international validation, through the GWW certification. .

The work contemplated field training of various organizations in the communes of Penco, Concepción, Laja, los Álamos, Tomé, Hualpén, San Pedro –and soon, Isla Mocha– for the use of the “Kit Alabama Water Watch Lamotte” that seeks to establish the quality of water. Débora Ramírez, socio-community coordinator of the Manzana Verde Foundation, explained to FMA that this work was carried out through monthly monitoring.

“We characterize small basins that are key to the functioning of the communes, but for which there was no data in the current institutional framework,” she said, explaining that this network hopes to sustain and expand hydrological monitoring capacity, generate early warning systems and allow integrated planning for communities at risk of water scarcity. Ramírez reported that a documentary record of the work process carried out between 2022 and 2023 was made, which was shared through their social networks.

Towards water sovereignty

In the audiovisual record of community monitoring, the testimonies of GWW members are also collected, who contributed with certification tools. Sergio Ruiz-Córdova, Data coordinator at GWW Alabama, said that his organization has been training monitors for 30 years, through learning that seeks to encourage “society to begin to observe natural resources with greater care.”

The kit implemented by GWW measures five water variables, including turbidity, hardness, and bacteriological monitoring to detect the presence of Escherichia coli. In addition, among the processes that are part of the project, not only water samples were obtained, but also the fishing of macroinvertebrates as markers of water quality, since -as explained in the documentary- these beings are sensitive to changes suffered by the rivers and its population is rapidly depleted. One of the qualities of the project, at the same time, points to its replicability in order to install skills in key people, as well as the stimulation of water sovereignty.

       Along with the communities included in the training, Ramírez explained, organizations such as “Somos cuenca” in Biobío and the Futaleufú team of “River keepers” were also invited. People of all ages and backgrounds were part of the initiative, from activists to teachers, from retirees to young people. One of the participants was Jimena Lira, part of the “Organization for the conservation of the Antihuala lagoon”, who highlighted the importance of protecting the lagoon as a water source for the surrounding communes. Likewise, the professor of natural sciences, Carolina Garcés, stressed the value of “enjoying as human beings what nature gives us.”

      The projection of this initiative is aimed at making a sustainable and expandable network in terms of its hydrological monitoring capacities, as well as generating early warning systems and allowing integrated planning for communities at risk of water scarcity.