EFE.- An artificial wetland to be built in the Mexicali Valley will alleviate the drought problems of this border area with the United States, which will benefit a population of 30,000 people who are dedicated mostly to agricultural tasks.
With the assistance of the governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, the first stone of the artificial wetland was installed in an area of the Mexicali Valley in which 5 of its 7 main municipalities suffer from drought problems.
Governor Ávila Olmeda acknowledged that Water is a resource that is increasingly scarce, which is why he thanked the company Industria Mexicana de Coca-Cola for funding in this project.
“It will provide the Mexicali Valley with a natural resource that we all long for, because every time it seems to be more scarce and we have to look for mechanisms attached to nature that offer us to solve the problem in this matter,” he said at the ceremony of placement of the first stone of the construction of the wetland.
“That companies continue to arrive with their hearts ahead, with this social responsibility, that they share with governments, that we help each other and hand in hand we manage to transform people’s lives,” added Ávila Olmeda.
38.98% of the Mexican territory is currently in a drought situation, according to the Drought Monitor of Mexico.
The artificial wetland will be built thanks to a coordinated work between the private initiative, the Government and other civil institutions “with the aim of creating a sustainable project that generates a positive impact on the environment in the north of the Mexican country.”
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In the formal ceremony that took place in the future wetland, the director of Public Affairs of Arca Continental, Jesús Lucatero, highlighted that the project will have the capacity to treat more than 4 million liters of water per day, the equivalent of 800 water transport pipes daily.
“The inhabitants of Mexicali will have a plant from the first worldLucatero said, also highlighting the coordinated effort in the Golden Triangle, as he called for the coordination of the government, private initiative and civil society.
On the other hand, the director of the State Public Services Commission of Mexicali, José Fernández, explained that his agency donated the land for the construction of the wetland, and It will be Coca-Cola who will be in charge of the investment of 35 million pesos.
The wetland will have ultra violet light to disinfect the water, as well as phyto-purification plants, which, according to Fernández, reinforces it as an environmentally friendly artificial project.
Sergio Londoño, Director of Sustainability at Coca-Cola Mexico, explained that There are 4 wetlands that are contemplated for Mexico with a total investment of 170 million pesos.
“They will supply water to communities in the State of Mexico, Baja California, Quintana Roo and Jalisco, aware that the renovation of infrastructure is a solution for the correct cleaning of the water,” added Londoño.
Added to the wetland, Coca-Cola will promote the development of cisterns for hand washing, as well as the filtration and collection of rainwater, and the installation of purifying filters in homes in Mexico.
Londoño stressed that in this way the efforts of the Mexican Coca-Cola Industry to return to nature the water used in its products, in addition to promoting the sanitation of urban water for its reuse in productive processes of the communities .
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