Work begins on constructed wetlands
By Bob Haas July 28, 2006

After nearly six years of lobbying on the part of El Charco Botanical Garden, work starts this week on the constructed wetlands water treatment plant in Parque Landeta.

The combined effort by the State Water Commission, the Institute of Ecology of Guanajuato and the city of San Miguel—along with Audubon, FAI, CASA, Save the Laja, El Charco and the municipality—is finally coming to fruition. 

This will be the first constructed wetlands water treatment system to be built in San Miguel and will provide much-needed clean water for the Botanical Garden and Parque Landeta.

The project will also serve to retain water in the presa Las Colonias throughout the year, providing a habitat for the threatened waterfowl that nest on its shores and on the manmade islands there. 

Sewage from the colonia of Palmita de Landeta will first be treated in an anaerobic reactor and then in a submerged-bed constructed wetland before it is released into the presa.
Estimated construction time is about three months, at a cost of about 2.5 million pesos. The cost has been entirely covered by the state government. Much more time and money will be needed for El Charco and the other nongovernment organizations to turn the site into a functional wetlands area.

The agreement also charges the city to spend significant funds on reconstruction of fences, water tanks, restrooms, signage, picnic areas and trails in this very important city park.

El Charco has developed the Parque Landeta over a period of 13 years and has spent vast sums of its own money to maintain and operate this environmental, educational and recreational area for the whole community. César Arias, president of the board of El Charco, feels it is time for the city to assume responsibility for this 82-acre park, declared an ecological preserve by the city council in 2005. “The Botanical Garden can no longer afford to spend its scarce funds raised for El Charco on this municipal park,” says Arias.