A forceful new voice opposed to the Arcediano dam project has reignited interest in the massive infrastructure project on the northern edge of Guadalajara.

Visiting water expert Pedro Arrojo Agudo, winner of the 2003 Goldman prize for Excellence in Protecting the Environment, labeled the project economically and environmentally “absurd.” 

“I’ve never seen anything like this and I have seen a lot of [environmental] brutalities,” said the Spanish biologist, who currently serves as president of the Foundation for a New Culture of Water at the University of Zaragoza.

Arrojo reviewed the proposed Arcediano project – a curtain dam over the Santiago River with a complex system of pumps and pipes moving the water to and from treatment plants to serve the metro area’s growing water consumption needs – during his presentation last week at Guadalajara’s second annual Community Organizers’ Water Conference.

“To start with, the proposal to serve drinking water with heavy metals to a city is absurd. But even more ridiculous is the idea to pump it up 580 meters through pipes to be treated.”

His concerns echoed the key complaints from the Pan American Health Organization, which found high levels of toxins and heavy metals in the Santiago last year.

“Do you have any idea what this [transporting and treating water] would cost in this plan?” Arrojo exclaimed. “I assure you no less than 20 Euro cents (29 US cents) for every cubic meter of water.  With water this contaminated, you are probably looking at 50 to 60 Euro cents (73 to 88 US cents) per cubic meter.”

Moreover, Arrojo doubts whether the dam’s two proposed water treatment plants will be able to make the Santiago’s water drinkable.

“Heavy metals like this can’t be treated in one purification process, and reverse osmosis is hardly an option, because then what can be done with the toxic brine?”

As with past critiques, the State Water Commission (CEA) said it was unmoved by Arrojo’s concerns. When asked for response, Arcediano Project Supervisor Ricardo Robles Varela called Arrojo “uninformed” and said his agency had sufficient studies to satisfy them that the Arcediano’s treated water would be potable.

“It is important, when emitting an opinion, to know the particulars of the case.  His problem is that he is from another culture,” Robles told reporters, adding that CEA is moving forward as planned with the project.

Nevertheless, the Arcediano project (once promised for competition in time for the Pan American Games in 2011) has made no visible progress this year, since bulldozers cleared expropriated properties in preparation.

The CEA says it has yet to pay an environmental compensation fee, as outlined in the 2003 project authorization, in light of the dam’s irreparable impact on the ecosystems of the Oblatos Canyon. Payment is a prerequisite to beginning construction but CEA officials say they are still negotiating the amount.