Alberto Franco: the blog talk



Alberto Franco

Hi everybody, I'm Alberto and I'm having a blast at Panajachel. It's only been day 1 and you can already tell this Expedicion Atitlan 2012 is such a unique experience, leaded by very determined and interesting people. Some really nice and patienent enough to even teach me how to blog :p

From local people to people that lives around the world, we have gathered for one main goal, having Atitlan Lake clean healthy. This task conveys such a diversity of actions and efforts, that just like on a clock, tiny actions and gestures are part of a larger preogress of studies on the lake, which these are constantly adding up for the progress of our goal at this wonderful, definitely worth saving, Lake Atitlan. Keep on

It is an honorable experience to be here for Lake Atitlan and still get to learn SO MUCH about my career and Nature in return. Not to mention the fun and great people!

Things may get tough and tired some times but remember this wonderful message I once got from this reggae master: “The people who were trying to make this world worse are not taking the day off. Why should I?”

Empezó la Expedición Atitlan: “Unidos por un lago Atitlan Vivo”

Ricardo Herrera Molina

Ricardo Herrera Molina

El lago Atitlan representa  la  belleza natural que posee Guatemala, provee de bienes y servicios a todos los poblados aledaños y por ende promueve el desarrollo del país.  El lago es un ecosistema biodiverso, el cual alberga un sinfín de especies de plantas y animales, incluso algunas endémicas del lugar. Pero es sumamente frágil y vulnerable,  esta vulnerabilidad ha hecho que su equilibrio sea afectado por actividades producidas por el hombre,  mediante las acciones que se realizan cotidianamente. Existen dos ríos principales que drenan al lago y que están siendo contaminados (Rio San Francisco y Rio Quiscab), el cual están cambiando las características físicas, químicas y biológicas del lago Atitlan. Esta contaminación produjo un exceso de floraciones de cianobacterias entre el 2007 – 2009 (algas verde- azul).Ahora gracias a la expedición Atitlan, se estudiara la salud actual del lago, para poder determinar y comparar resultados de monitoreo respecto al 2010. Y así tratar de tomar medidas de control y conservación. Todos estamos muy emocionados y con grandes expectativas, tratar de mejorar la salud del lago para que esté con nosotros durante muchos años más. En lo personal tengo mucha energía para aprender y aportar de mis conocimientos para los análisis que se estarán realizando a lo largo de estas dos semanas.

El Lago Atitlan a Atardecer

Harriet Saawo

Harriet Saawo
UCDavis Humphrey Scholar

I am a UC Davis Humphrey Fellow here in the U.S. for ten months. I am from Uganda and there, I serve as a district natural resources officer with Kalangala district; an island district in Uganda. As head of the department of natural resources, I coordinate activities of the forest services, environment & wetland management, and land management sectors.

As part of the Humphrey program, fellows are required to do a professional affiliation with a US organization; and that is how I met Dr. Eliska Rejmankova who told me about the Atitlan Expedition Program.

The trainings have been great. I have gained a lot on useful information in this new area, and going to lake Amtitlan further reinforced what I had learned from the classroom lectures. The multiple uses of water hyacinth in cleaning the polluted water in Lake Amatitlan, production of biogas and as livestock feed, is one of the things most relevant to me and management of Lake Victoria in Uganda and I am excited to share this information and other experiences from this expedition. In about a week so far, I can confidently say that this was a great opportunity that had indeed to be seized without hesitation.



Lecture at Universidad Landivar Rafael

 

Emily Carlson: Lago Amatitlan



Today, Harriet, Jiri, Jarka and myself travelled to Lago Amatitlan to see the status of that lake.  It has been heavily polluted by nearby Guatemala City sprawl and has a chronic bloom of Microcystis (a toxic cyanobacteria).  The raw sewage flowing into the lake has increased the nitrogen and phosphorus to very high levels, allowing the phytoplankton to grow out of control (this is a process called eutrophication).  The water is very green and thick, sort of like wheatgrass juice. When flying into Guatemala City, the Lago Amatitlan can be seen from the plane and the sight of the large green lake is very dramatic.




Lago Amatitlan



Jarka and Harriet with AMSA staff.














AMSA, the Amatitlan watershed authority, was very accomidating and showed us around their facilities and then took us out on the lake in one of their boats.  We were able to see where they are aerating the lake- trying to alleviate some effects of the harsh eutrophication. We also saw the outflow and inflow rivers, and took many samples for phytoplankton identification.  They had the inflow river, which is full of raw sewage, flowing into a settlement pond, which had Eichornia crassipes (water hyacinth) growing in it.  Water hyacinth is a weedy, invasive species that is choking out many of the world's waterways.  It is a floating species that has an incredible growth rate, but on the other hand is great at removing nutrients (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) from the water.  AMSA was using this species to help decrease the nutrient loads flowing into the lake, but hurricane Agatha rerouted the river, depositing more trash and water hyacinth from the controlled sedimentation pond to the lake itself.
We were then introduced to a couple of Swedes doing work there at Amatitlan with the water hyacinth.  They were growing the hyacinth, then collecting the plants (thus removing from the system the nutrients taken up by the plants) and puting them in a biodigester to produce methane for cooking gas.  We talked with them for a while and were very glad we made new contacts.  Seeing Amatitlan, and all of the pollution flowing into the lake, was a stark reminder of why we are here- to help prevent Atitlan from facing the same fate.



Water hyacinth sewn together as a flaoting net in the lake to collect garbage coming in from the river.



Jiri collecting samples from the sedimentation pond.  Water hyacinth is the green floating plant with purple flowers.

Alecia Brantley: Training Experience

This training has been informative and unique thus far. The lectures have been given by experts in several sub-disciplines of limnology which provide a thorough explanation of freshwater ecology that can be applied to Lake Atitlan.  One of the most interesting discussions has dealt with the ecological interactions that occur between lake organisms when changes in available nutrients and dissolved organic matter take place in an aquatic ecosystem.  I'm glad that I have had the opportunity to participate in this unique training program because it is culturally diverse; the cross-cultural discussions provide new perspectives on the current and future ecological state of Lake Atitlan.  Each day has been filled with many thoughtful questions, providing insight on possible solutions for this valuable lake.

Some Background on This Project

Expedicion Atitlan 2012:

Capacity Building Within Guatemalan Institutions for Understanding Changes and Monitoring Health

Lake Atitlan is located in the highlands of Guatemala and has been described as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.

In recent years the lake’s ecology has undergone dramatic alteration due to increasing pollution. In December 2008, the lake underwent a dramatic regime shift when a large cyanobacterial algal bloom occurred.

The news about the bloom spread quickly with local residents concerned about the clarity, ecology, and “health” of the lake. There has been very little limnological research at the lake with a shortage of information to understand the mechanisms contributing to the lake’s alteration. In April 2010, a team of international researchers arrived at Lake Atitlan to work with their Guatemalan counterparts to initiate a collaboration to understand lake processes and conserve the lake and assist the residents of Guatemala in understanding why the lake was changing.

 With funding from USAID, the Expedicion Atitlan 2012 strives to build Guatemala's capacity to monitor environmental conditions at Lake Atitlan, to promote scientifically sound policy decision making among local and national leaders concerning the lake, and to educate members of lake communities on the importance of environmental stewardship on their health and livelihoods. 

The main objectives of this program will address detrimental environmental and man-made impacts on Lake Atitlán through:

1. Promotion and strengthening of existing monitoring/ research programs and development of a long-term, scientifically based monitoring framework across the watershed (lake, river, land, atmosphere).

2. Compilation and quality control of existing lake and river data and place this information into a database available to all parties working to conserve Lake Atitlán.

3. Creation of infrastructure in Guatemalan institutions through the purchase of modern laboratory and field instrumentation that can be deployed and maintained by Guatemalan institutions in the future.

4. Training of young Guatemalan scientists in the proper use of this instrumentation, data analysis, and sharing information with policy makers through public-friendly reports and presentations to implement programs that will restore Lake Atitlán.

5. Development and implementation of a communication and sustainability strategy for this initiative that can jointly contribute to the economic development of the Lake Atitlán Watershed.

We are all excited to work together and get started on this exciting project!!!