As Jalisco officials rolled out a multibillion-peso strategy to overhaul Guadalajara’s aging water system, the head of the region’s water utility failed to appear Wednesday before state lawmakers, where residents, scientists, neighborhood groups and even SIAPA workers demanded answers about the contaminated water flowing from their taps today.
SIAPA Director Ismael Jáuregui Castañeda had been scheduled to appear before the Jalisco Congress to discuss the region’s worsening water crisis but instead sent a letter explaining that he was overseeing the launch of construction at the Miravalle water treatment plant, part of the state’s newly announced water strategy.
On Monday, Cabinet Chief Alberto Esquer acknowledged that “water quality in Jalisco is a real, historic problem,” announcing a 30-point plan that includes more than five billion pesos in immediate spending and over 20 billion pesos in long-term infrastructure projects, including upgrades to treatment plants, a new Chapala aqueduct and a bypass intended to keep contaminated water from reaching the Miravalle treatment facility.
But speakers at Wednesday’s press conference argued that while the government is focused on future infrastructure, residents still lack basic answers about the water currently reaching their homes.
“His absence is not a minor matter,” said María González, one of the organizers of the citizen campaign El SIAPA que Queremos (The SIAPA We Want). “It comes at a critical moment, when thousands of families are facing dirty water, service interruptions, foul odors, sediment and growing uncertainty about the quality of the water arriving in their homes.”
The coalition — which includes neighborhood associations, researchers from ITESO, environmental organizations and SIAPA employees — also released the latest results of an ongoing citizen water-monitoring effort covering 184 samples from 90 neighborhoods across the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
According to the report, 93 percent of the samples contained no detectable residual chlorine, the basic disinfectant used to protect drinking water from microbial contamination. Citizen monitors also reported detecting lead, mercury, nitrates, fluorides and coliform bacteria in some samples, prompting calls for immediate independent testing by accredited laboratories.
“We began these monitoring efforts because there is no official information from SIAPA, there is no transparency, and we do not know what the water we are receiving contains,” said Diego Rico, a member of the Metropolitan Neighborhood Water Monitoring Network.
Veyda Alcalá, an ITESO environmental researcher who helped analyze the results, warned that the findings go beyond the murky, foul-smelling water that has generated hundreds of complaints in recent months.
“Community evidence cannot be met with dismissal, silence or omission,” she said. “It must be met with official verification, transparency, public health measures and accountability.” She added that while boiling water can eliminate bacterial contamination, it does not remove heavy metals and may actually concentrate them. Residents were advised not to drink tap water or use it to prepare food until authorities determine what contaminants may be present.
Organizers said they have documented more than 900 citizen complaints since March, including reports of gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin ailments. They are preparing collective complaints before state and national human rights commissions and continue to press for an official public health alert.
The criticism was not limited to citizen groups.
José González González, secretary of the SIAPA workers’ union SEPSIAPA, defended frontline employees while describing an agency struggling with chronic shortages.
“It is not the workers’ fault,” he said. “We lack vehicles, materials and supplies. We’re the ones who face the public every day, but without the necessary tools, how can we guarantee clean water?”
State Deputy Valeria Ávila also questioned whether the government’s emphasis on expensive public works addresses the immediate crisis.
“It seems the state government wants to solve everything through pipes and more money,” she said, arguing that lawmakers should not approve billions of pesos in new spending until officials provide greater transparency about the causes of the contamination and their plans to address it.
The coalition announced a series of demonstrations beginning Thursday, including a march to the state health authority to demand an official health alert and independent testing.
“If authorities insist the water is safe,” González said, “let them prove it with public data, independent sampling and verifiable results.”
For more information on upcoming events related to the citizen water movement, follow IMDEC AC.