Overall Objective

Restore and protect Lake Chapala and its rivers and basin, achieve sustainable development and economic growth, propagate the importance of environmental protection, and preserve the area’s cultural heritage.

Goals (long range)

A. Recuperate a healthy lake, in terms of water level and water quality
B. Achieve a healthy environment in the basin
C. Promote environmental awareness
D. Develop a sustainable economy
E. Preserve the cultural heritage of the area
F. Eliminate concessions of lake bottom property

Objectives per goal

A. Recuperate a healthy lake, in terms of water level and water quality

Raise the level of the lake to the “cota” of 97.8, with a volume of 8-9,000 million m³, equivalent to reaching the upper part of the Ajijic and Chapala piers, by taking the following measures:

• Increase water inflow, by implementing more efficient irrigation systems in the basin, attaining more equitable water sharing between the five states in the basin and getting the dams to release more water into the lake.
• Decrease water outflow, by implementing more efficient irrigation systems along the lake shores, denying the use of federal lake bottom land for farming and other economic activities, stopping illegal pumping of water out of the lake, taking less water out of the lake for Guadalajara, and getting Guadalajara to waste less water.
• Convince federal, state and municipal governments of the advantages of saving the lake, the dangers of not doing so, and the need to take the necessary measures to succeed, even though they are politically unpopular.

B. Achieve a healthy environment in the basin

Achieve a 50% reduction in water contamination and waste in the next five years by:

1. Reforestation in areas where erosion contributes to the silting of the lake, in collaboration with the appropriate local and state authorities.
2. Eco-agriculture to protect the environment:
   
   1. Develop and implement educational and training programs regarding:
      • The benefit to farmers of plowing without burning, to avoid depleting the earth
      • Ways in which peasants can earn more with forest products than with crops grown with slash and burn techniques
      • The importance of filtration zones between cultivated areas and the banks of rivers and the lakeside to retain and degrade pesticides and fertilizers
   2. Identify and support model farms, agricultural schools, etc., which lead to less water waste and pollution by farming.
      
   3. Develop a system to report environmental abuses.
      
3. Establish and maintain contact with international organizations and get their help in combating contamination and water wastage. Establish appropriate systems of accounting and control of the resources that they provide us with.
4. Motivate and pressure the authorities to enforce the existing laws, rules and regulations.

C. Create environmental awareness about the lake, basin and rivers

1. Develop an educational program for children and another for adults about the Lerma-Chapala-Santiago Basin ecological system, and its importance to them.
2. Get permission from school principals to present this program to their students.
3. Convince the heads of the federal and state educational systems to include more subjects on environmental protection in the curriculum.
4. Create an awareness of the real value and cost of water, encourage the saving of water in cities and towns, and explain the impact of contaminated water on the real cost of public health.

D. Help develop a sustainable economy

I. Develop and foster viable economic projects such as: fish and frog farms, hydroponics, infrastructure for aquatic sports, fishing and eco-tourism, provided no permanent installations are built on the dry lakebed.

II. Identify and obtain sources of financing, both governmental and private, national and foreign, for the above-mentioned projects.

E. Preserve the cultural heritage of the area

Help restore, develop and promote historical sites such as: Scorpion Island, Mezcala Island and the Chapala Railroad Station.

F. Eliminate concessions of lake bottom property

The primary goal of Amigos del Lago is to achieve the total recuperation of the lake, and any concession, be it short or long term, will lead to a conflict of interest on the part of concessionaire, leading him / her to resist any measure leading to a rise in the level of the lake, which would flood his / her concession.