In November 2015, a group of Loreto’s residents received a notice of an imminent threat of mining entering our Municipality via change in land use, particularly in the location where our water comes originates which is 24kms north inside San Juan Londo Valley. This small group of concerned citizens had an intense sense of Loreto’s identity and found something in common to fight for, the defense of our limited fresh water in the desert.
Loreto resident enjoying the healthy water of Tabor Canyon.
This collective encountered many obstacles, starting with the lack of transparency in public information, since the local Municipal government sought to discreetly approve changes through a “Mining Tax.” The first attack was the way in which politicians sought to break our Ecological Ordinance (a legal tool that governs how water, air and soil can be used in Loreto). Secretly, the City Council of Loreto tried to open legal loopholes, with changes that as per their own words “do NOT attract the attention of the citizen,” and in this way be able to introduce a legal controversy and give way to the exploitation of our aquifers.
The local government was completely surprised to see these citizens arrive at the Loreto City Hall on November 10th 2015 to witness who had been summoned to evaluate and give their positive opinion on the mining tax. The faces of all those present were bewildered and very surprised.
Peaceful demonstration on social media, of community feeling.
The reality was that neither the local government, nor the guilds of engineers and architects or the non-profit organizations that were participating at that time as evaluators of the approval of a possible “Mining Tax”, expected that the people of Loreto would have this interest and concern. In fact, it is the before mentioned groups had taken steps to allow mining in Loreto. Fortunately, the City Council immediately realized that trying to add such a tax would not be well received by their voters, since it implied that Loreto was opening mining in the San Juan Londó area where the community water supply is found.
The Engineers and Architects Unions, “Eco-Alianza de Loreto” and even the Loreto’s Mayor at that time (Arely Arce), had publicly declared through their social networks that they were against the entry of mining in Loreto.
It is because of all these surprises that as collective of concern citizens we have kept alert. The activities to disseminate and raise social awareness of the risks to our water supply and health have been diverse and some would say subversive. For example, we managed to bring discussion forums about the potential damage from mining; collect hundreds of signatures against mining in Loreto (sometimes complete families would show up just to show how important it was to take a stand); held artistic festivals and during dancing groups or intermission place on a large screen information about the disasters that mining has caused in other places in Mexico and the world; we took over 1500 residents on hikes to the Sierra La Giganta to learn about where water comes from and to witness the beauty of a healthy Sierra without a mining presence; and we silently held large banners against mining during arrival of politicians.
I still remember when we were sitting at the Hotel La Pinta receiving from Cecilia Fischer a brainstorm of projects to benefit ranchers and Ejidatarios (largest land owners of the Municipality) viable options to boost their local economy. Today those projects are a reality and there are several ranchers from Loreto who benefit the Community Supported Agriculture, promotion of rural tourism and drought tolerant crops to feed their goats and sheep when the desert cannot provide.
The response of the community to all these activities was overwhelming. From a small group that started, hundreds and then thousands joined. Loreto did not let itself be dazzled by mirrors and understood that Water is Worth More Than Gold. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we defended our identity, our culture, our Marine Park (Loreto Bay National Park / Parque Nacional Bahia Loreto) and our aquifers.
Stickers donated by Día Morales and Ramoncita Fernandez for distribution in the community of Loreto.
Although we feel victorious, after more than 9 years of a successful collective community effort, today our municipal government continues trying to open legal loopholes in our laws to allow the pollution of water. In a non-transparent manner, the City Council of Loreto approved on 26th June 2024 a new Municipal Urban Development Plan – PMDU ( Here is the public announcement by City Council of Loreto) , which contravenes our Ecological Ordinance, making subtle changes and even contradicting itself within the same document in order to include mining in the area of San Juan Londó and area of San Javier. Please read Investigative report by national newsapaper called "Semanario Zeta" by Gilberto Santisteban The article is Spanish but you can change your settings to an English version.
We continue to monitor the actions of the local government in order to protect our water, our identity, and our community. We are fortunate that Loreto is one of the most supportive and educated towns in Mexico on environmental protection issues.
What can you do to help?
- Please choose to be informed about these issues.
- Please share with your friends and neighbors.
- Please write in English or with your best Spanish to the Mayor Paola Cota with your concerns about mining to the following official email: presidencia@loreto.gob.mx
In the sport of basketball, it is very common to hear coaches tell the boys and girls, “Games are not won by the team that attacks the basket the most. Games are won by the team that plays the best DEFENSE.” At Keep Loreto Magical, we believe that this philosophy applies perfectly to the protection of our most valuable resource, our limited fresh water in the desert.
“Remembering is Living,” says a popular saying in Mexico. We invite you to share and discuss this article with all your friends and neighbors. It does not matter where you are from. It only matters that you care. Thank you for reading the long blog entry. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions or suggestions.
