The population uses mostly running water from ravines including that in the private property of near-by ranch-owners. We have verified that these are extremely polluted. There are no previous systems. But there exists fairly near an abundant spring that allows delivering water not only to Quirragua but to two other villages at a lower elevation which are part of the overall project.

The presence of this abundant spring which is unusually easy to protect from pollution and drying up suggests a gravity system as the obvious first choice. These systems are the specialty of APLV which has designed and help build 60 of them- all presently functioning. The basic components are a spring-catching and protecting construction, a buried conduction line to a holding tank evening out the supply over the day, and a distribution network leading to individual water taps all by gravity.
APLV has developed advanced design tools for such systems which have performed excellently, see www.aplv.org

Once the community is ready, (which this one is) the project will be carried out in one stage.

The community has been organized. Family have each individually signed a commitment to work the required number of men-days. A CAPS ( (committee charged both to organize the daily work schedule during construction and to learn and provide maintenance after construction) has been formed. Monthly rates por family have been established to cover maintenance and its tools. The project is kept under observation by APLV for 4 to 6 months and is thereafter formally handed over to the community as its owner. The spring has been formally handed over to that community and to the other two ( El Carmen and San Isidro) by its former owner

The project is endorsed and facilitated by the municipality of Matiguas

Reforestation is one component of our training of the community. Monitoring of baby health and measurement of the impact of our program on baby development is another. The amelioration of the diet of the farmers thru fish farming is contemplated

This undertaking should of course be the responsibility of the local and central governments. While municipalities are just beginning to contribute to such projects, their resources allow them to be only minor contributors. However they may play an important role for instance in helping enforce the national law guaranteeing communal access to springs and other sources of water as well as using their facilities (trucks) for material transport. Both are the case with the municipality of Matiguas.