THE STUNNING KAMOGAWA

BY MANUEL RODRÍGUEZ MONÁRREZ

On a frigid day in February, just like today, but 20 years ago, I remember myself descending from the North Station of the subway, where the Imperial Palace now stands on the side of the Kamo (“duck”) River. This was inside the Kyoto prefecture, the ancient Japanese capital, equipped with an underground transportation bordering the riverbed.

My first approach to the Kyoto river was through some Japanese friends who invited me to be part of their ranks in a street soccer tournament that was held on the slopes of the river, in a public field; fully equipped for those who wanted to access it. My year in Kyoto allowed me to marvel at the life and bustle that this central river generated for the citizens of Kansai who established cafes to enjoy a quiet and relaxing reading alongside their tributary.

In the afternoons, the power of the river released the luminous force of its fireflies that for the month of March, together with the flowering of the cherry trees around it, made its surroundings a true natural spectacle. In Japan, I learned that city architecture was molded to nature in order to unleash a psychological balance, allowing the population to appropriate and fully enjoy their surroundings.

For a full 12 months, I descended from the same station while studying my economics and law classes at Doshisha University. The river was the connection and meeting point for all outdoor activities. On my return to Tijuana, Mexico as a citizen I witnessed the improvised effort made by a mayor in 2007 to install some poorly made courts in the Tijuana riverbed that did not last a year because the weak infrastructure was washed away by the first January rain.

Since then, together with other people convinced that our city can improve, I have developed ideas such as the Río Arriba Association that has documented -with the help of drones and hidden cameras- how the third stage of the Arroyo Alamar that feeds the river, is used in an irresponsible manner to be the clandestine discharge par excellence for construction companies, unconscious entrepreneurs, and uncollected drainage from the suburbs. This is poured into pipes that use the unevenness to enter the federal channel and deposit all kinds of metals, toxic liquids, organic and inorganic waste that poison us daily. The first ones affected to death are the migrants who live in the canal.

Many old residents feel proud and speak of thearchitectural marvel of former President Luis Echeverría Alvarez. He came to cement the riverbed to free us from the risk of flooding, but they forget that the complete cementing destroyed our main riparian ecosystem in Tijuana and condemned us to lose endemic vegetation, as well as the annihilation of ducklings, herons and species that today we can see at the end of the river but on the American side. Over there, they are tired of cleaning all the dirt that we send to the riparian habitat of birds and fish.

It has been 20 years since I met, lived and enjoyed the Kamo in Japan. The question is, how long will it take for a landscape architect in Tijuana with a restorative approach to take control of our environment? Our life in society could improve if only the citizens regain control of their public life and did not leave decisions as important as the restoration of a river in the hands of politicians: Let’s learn from the Kamogawa and live the life we deserve.