Tecolutla River: Participatory planning for its integral recovery

Abstract

This study presents the main findings of a participatory diagnosis regarding the socioecological conditions in the Tecolutla River watershed within the capital of the municipality of Gutiérrez Zamora, Veracruz, Mexico. Information was generated on citizens’ and water authorities’ perceptions, values, and attitudes regarding river contamination and its integral recovery. The methodology employed was mixed, comprising participatory planning workshops, semi-structured interviews with decision-makers, and a non-probabilistic survey. The data were integrated with a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, which concluded that the system is mostly weak. The primary issue is water pollution resulting from wastewater discharges from households, which negatively impacts riparian ecosystems due to the high concentration of fecal coliforms. It was agreed that this problem resulted from the lack of coordination and continuity of projects by governmental institutions in the water sector. There was consensus that the river’s degradation resulted from government-society co-responsibility, so integral recovery should also be a joint effort.