Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval met with the director of the National Water Commission (CNA) last week as he kept up his campaign to save three communities from being inundated to make way for the massive Zapotillo dam on the Verde River in the northeastern region of the state.
Sandoval wants to reduce the height of the 105-meter curtain dam by 25 meters, a move that he says will eliminate the need to flood the pueblos of Temacapulin, Palmarejo and Acasico.
The CNA says two dikes would still need to be built to save Temacapulin at a cost of one billion pesos. The entire dam is costing 12 billion pesos, plus a further 100 million to build the new town of Nuevo Temacapulin to rehouse displaced residents. The dam is more than half finished, according to the CNA.
Shortly before he took office on March 1, Sandoval vowed to save Temacapulin (known as Temaca), a community dating back to the 13th century. Although more than 70 percent of the town’s residents (CNA figures) have agreed to be rehoused, a significant number have vowed to stay put and say they would prefer to drown along with their homes.
Sandoval this week corrected State Water Commission President Jose Luis Hernandez Amaya, who admitted last week that the Jalisco government does in fact recognize the CNA’s right to have the final word about the height of the Zapotillo Dam. Sandoval reiterated his stance at a meeting this week with CNA Director David Korenfeld, who promised to review the alternatives on offer, although the federal agency is not expected to alter its original plan.
The Zapotillo Dam is intended to supply water to northern Jalisco, the city of Leon, Guanajuato and to supplement water supply to the Guadalajara metropolitan area (150 kilometers away). Its backers say 2.4 million people will benefit from the dam over the next quarter century.
Opposition Guadalajara city councilors of the National Action Party (PAN) this week announced their support for the original project, calling it “the best option to guarantee water for the metro area for the next 23 years.”