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Lerma River article


Mainecoons

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13 hours ago, tomgates said:

Todd Strong has said for the past 10 years or so that the water is safe.

Looks like he was "overruled " by the real experts.  They didn't seem to like his opinion very much. 

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I had always heard that Todd Stong was supposed to be one of the most knowledgeable experts about the lake around. And although I don't like swimming in the lake, if he says its safe in certain or all areas of the lake, I will believe him.

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Unfortunately as a formerly licensed and now retired Environmental Engineer I know many of the substances, particularly from industrial wastes, being dumped into this river don't just disappear.  Natural processes will neutralize organics and even pathogens but heavy metals are here to stay.  Having designed numerous waste treatment plants, the latter are very difficult to deal with.

Those toxic substances have gone somewhere.  I don't want to find out they are here by coming in contact with this water or the fish in it.

My recommendation is that prudence dictates neither swimming in this lake or eating anything taken from it.

 

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The river runs for hundreds of kilometers picking up farm runoff, sewage, industrial waste. This article further confirms the issues: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/kidney-disease-is-at-epidemic-levels-data/  The river and presa by SMA drains into Lake Chapala.

That pollution does not magically disappear before entering Lake Chapala. When living there and now visiting we never go in the lake. But it is very beautiful to see.

And the Santiago River gets the sewage from Guadalajara. Until 2014 nearly all GDL sewage went directly into the river. Since then improvements. http://geo-mexico.com/?p=11816

 

 

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Just so you know Sonia - I refuse to read Mexico News Daily. They cherry pick the most caustic, controversial headlines they can find from the Mexican press, who are no angels either. As you know journalism is very political in this country, and bad news sells better than good news. Then the online comments people "contribute" to these stories are nothing more than vile hatred and racism. Mexico News Daily provides nothing more than an English language conduit for anti-Mexico haters out there.

If the Lake is in such bad shape, how come the introduced Bass are doing so well? They are sensitive to pollution, their gills become inflamed, and they cannot absorb oxygen. Also this water ends up in Guadalajara tap water, many of the poor have to drink it. I'm sticking with the recognised experts on this one, the ones with Phd's - the Lake suffers from fertilizer runoff (lirio) and sewage is not an issue because of the small population here and up the river. Where I'm from, British Columbia, raw sewage is pumped into the (Fraser) river by small towns and cities, for its hundreds of miles journey. It ends up in the Pacific ocean. Same as Vancouver, who only treats sewage enough to reduce solids. Another "pristine" city, Victoria, openly pumps its sewage into the ocean. Industrial pollution must be way up the Lerma, because according to my maps, I see mostly farms and agriculture.

An uptake in kidney disease, obesity, and diabetes is a result of a population who can now afford to drink 2 liters of coca cola for breakfast/early work, and 1.5 liters of beer at comida.

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Nice ad hom.  Most of their reports BTW are picked up from other publications and have very specific and checkable information in them.  For example, the article about the Lerma is well referenced even to the point of mapping the worst section.  At the bottom of every news article, they list the sources like this complete with active links so you can click on them and see for yourself.  For example:

Quote

Source: El Sol de México (sp), El Universal (sp)

It is easier to play the ad hom game with a credible source than it is to accept that these gross thefts of public money and the growing insecurity actually exist.  Until it shows up at your door.  Then the head in the sand is apt to get lopped off. :)

 

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This related as in the past Round Up was used on the lake. I found it interesting from a celiac's perspective as friends have the problem. But it appears to affect aquatic life. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/

Mainecoons good comments.

If hundreds of kilometers of rivers have runoff, industrial waste and sewage to the point of no life in places then that does not automatically stop as the rivers enter Lake Chapala. Mexico news daily FYI generally only reprints. That article came from a respected news source Milenio. http://www.milenio.com/region/epidemia-insuficiencia_renal-udeg-poncitla-milenio-noticias-jalisco_0_973102884.html

The large presa in SMA regularly tested by a group of expats has extremely high sewage contamination and ultimately ends up in Lake Chapala. And that is only one source. When you see the condition of the river in Puebla as we did 6 weeks ago. It is horrible, lifeless with an unbearable smell. 45% of sewage in Mexico is not treated.

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  • 3 years later...

Tomgates, I would like to contact Todd Strong. I read a report from 2010 which looks at all aspects of life on the lake. He makes numerous references to water, wells, and water treatment. I would like to look at the data he references. Can you help. I did see that he is speaking at the LCS Sunday morning lecture series on March 21 2021.

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Sonja,

I have been looking for the very information you referenced. Specifically the percent of untreated sewage. Can you point me to sources that discuss this fact. After realizing why the water can't be consumed I'm like, why would I move to Mexico? I would consider somewhere in the 55%. I just need to know where that is. The entire basin that Chapala, Guadalajara are in is totally out. Large corporations have destroyed everything.

 

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Since I can not attend possibly someone could ask him a question. he has previously stated that the lirio enters the lake when "the dams upstream are opened" 

Could someone ask him which dams he is specifically referring to? Where they are located.  And where that information is published. 

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17 hours ago, medcare651 said:

Sonja,

I have been looking for the very information you referenced. Specifically the percent of untreated sewage. Can you point me to sources that discuss this fact. After realizing why the water can't be consumed I'm like, why would I move to Mexico? I would consider somewhere in the 55%. I just need to know where that is. The entire basin that Chapala, Guadalajara are in is totally out. Large corporations have destroyed everything.

 

Perhaps I misunderstand. You would not move to Mexico because you can not drink lake water? 

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On 3/13/2021 at 4:08 PM, Mostlylost said:

Since I can not attend possibly someone could ask him a question. he has previously stated that the lirio enters the lake when "the dams upstream are opened" 

Could someone ask him which dams he is specifically referring to? Where they are located.  And where that information is published. 

He could possibly mean water diversion gates, not actual dams. Diverting irrigation waters into different trenches. When the rains come, they backflow with the lirio. Then use tractor to renew the trenches. Very old, unsustainable system.

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On 3/14/2021 at 4:43 AM, Xena said:

Perhaps I misunderstand. You would not move to Mexico because you can not drink lake water? 

You do know that as the well based water system here continues to decline from over use the alternative now being discussed is the construction of a surface water treatment system using water from the lake?

A lot of people in GDL already drink "treated" water drawn from Lake Chapala.

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1 minute ago, Mainecoons said:

You do know that as the well based water system here continues to decline from over use the alternative now being discussed is the construction of a surface water treatment system using water from the lake?

A lot of people in GDL already drink "treated" water drawn from Lake Chapala.

I was hoping for a response from the person who made the statement. But thanks for jumping in. We don’t hear nearly enough from you.

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