Defending the Right to Clean Water Through Community Action in Jalisco, Mexico
Beneficiaries:
Ciénega Region includes Indigenous Coca communities and mestizo populations, direct beneficiaries = 900 men, women and children. Altos de Jalisco includes Chichimeca Indigenous communities of San Juan Bautista de la Laguna, direct beneficiaries = 350 men, women and children. Guadalajara Metropolitan area includes the municipalities of Guadalajara, Tonalá, Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, El Salto, Juanacatlán, and Tlajomulco de Zúñiga. Direct beneficiaries = 900; 2,150 direct beneficiaries total. Indirect beneficiaries = 206,000 for all locations total.
Partner:
Mexican Institute for Community Development, A.C. (IMDEC)
Location:
3 communities in the Jalisco region of Mexico:
- The Indigenous Coca and lakeside communities in the Ciénega Region
- The Chichimeca Indigenous community of San Juan Bautista de la Laguna in the Altos de Jalisco region
- Guadalajara Metropolitan area
Themes & Budget:
Building Resilient Communities, $33,000
Project Duration & Budget:
Feb 2026-Jan 2029
Project Summary
The territories targeted by this project are experiencing severe socio-environmental degradation that threatens the health and lives of people and ecosystems. All three are facing the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, overconsumption and pollution of freshwater – all of which threaten rural, Indigenous, and urban communities.
Access to safe drinking water is a human right and is the 6th goal in the Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to ensure clean water, sanitation, and hygiene for all by 2030. Unsafe drinking water leads to chronic kidney diseases, diarrhea, E. coli infections and more, many of which are fatal if left untreated. All three project areas face high levels of industrial water pollution in the primary rivers, lakes, and aquifers due to infrastructure development and large-scale monoculture within the agricultural sector. In addition, access to drinking water and sanitation is unequal, with poor water quality due to significant deforestation, and land-use that favours crops such as avocado, agave, and real estate development, especially in urban areas.
This project will work to promote and develop various community alternatives and nature-based solutions that contribute to restoring and improving sustainable water management, socio-environmental health and the impacts of climate change in each region. IMDEC will work to achieve these goals by:
- Building new knowledge and capacities by developing tools, skills, and practices for territorial defence and regeneration through training rooted in regenerative approaches, Popular Education, and a Human Rights framework.
- Designing and implementing socio-environmental regeneration initiatives and nature-based solutions that contribute to shifts in local and state public policies related to water and environmental protection.
- Strengthening collective action for territorial defence by connecting struggles, organizations, and communities across the project’s three regions to support life-affirming projects and prevent environmentally destructive developments.
- Coordinating joint actions and strengthening community organizing to enhance strategies for the defence, protection, and democratic management of land and natural resources, fostering solidarity among movements and increasing collective advocacy.
- Revitalizing local and Indigenous knowledge as a key strategy for addressing and adapting to the impacts of the climate crisis.
- Integrating regenerative agriculture practices that strengthen food security and improve access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food.
- Promoting transitions toward sustainable and climate-resilient production systems that reduce environmental harm and increase community resilience.
- Develop replicable models of socio-environmental regeneration, including the restoration of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers, sustainable agriculture practices, and community-led territorial defence.
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