Cuenca could tap into Tarqui aquifer; Weekend rain is forecast; Tourism fair at Casa de la Provincia; Sting tickets go on sale; Symphony plays tonight

Jueves, 26/9/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Ferias en MMAM – The Feria de Arte de Cuenca “ArtCue 2024” will be from 1-4/11 in the Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno (MMAM). Artists, collectives or foundations, galleries, and art material providers can apply to participate in this art fair up to el 6/10 in the social networks of the Dirección Municipal de Cultura. The applications will be reviewed by the selection and curating committee to determine the participants.

The city of Cuenca is considering tapping into the aquifer in the Tarqui Valley for future water needs. (El Mercurio)

Publicación de novela (Publication of novel) – Writer and columnist Juan Fernando Andrade will present his novel, “Adicto + comedia romántica,” el viernes, 27/9 a las 18:00 in the Palier Café Libro (Luis Cordero y Pres. Córdova). Rosalía Vázquez Moreno will chat with the author. Free.

Batuta norteamericana para dirigir a la Sinfónica, mañana (American baton to conduct Symphony tomorrow) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca (OSC) will perform the concert “Sensibilidad Musical de América y Europa” mañana a las 18:00 in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura. It will be directed by guest director David Handel who was the Principal Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Ecuador. The program will open with the opera “The Poacher” by Carl Maria von Weber, include “Andante para Cuerdas” by Alfonso Leng, the “Capriol Suite” by Peter Warlock, and finish with the Symphony No. 8 in F Major, op. 93 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Sale tercer disco de vinilo del “Rofofest” (sic) con bandas locales (Third vinyl record of “Rotofest” with local bands released) – The 3d phonographic work by “Rotofest” was launched hoy a las 19:00 in the Music Café “Monk” (Plaza Soleil, Puertas del Sol sector). It was produced in marzo, 2021 as the only digital edition of “Rotofest” due to the pandemic. 5 bands recorded a concert that was disseminated on digital platforms. From this concert, songs were selected for this vinyl recording to maintain the essence of the sound of live music.

<Now here the article goes into stuff that’s probably interesting only to you vinyl junkies.> It was recorded by “Long Play Records Cuenca” to be played back on an analog turntable. “Slam Studios” mastered the record, which was manufactured by “Sunpress Vinyl” in Miami. <How many of you besides me still has a record changer or turntable? I hauled the B & O turntable down from the US, but it needs a cartridge which costs more than most simple sound systems. Needless to say, it goes unused.> Bands on the LP include La Doble, Paco Vélez and Matazar on Side A; and Dynamo and Cascos de Arena on Side B.

Actos por el Día del Turismo (Tourism Day events) – The Provincial GAD of Azuay will have different activities from mañana to el domingo for the Día Mundial del Turismo. The program for el viernes, 27/9 will start a las 9:00 in the Casa de la Provincia with the “Azuay es el destino” fair to showcase crafts, typical food and other attractions. Starting at 15:00 will be a talk “Hablamos de Nuestro Turismo.” <I’m not translating the title since if you can’t understand the title, you have no hope of understanding a talk. Kind of like “If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it.”>

On el sábado, 28/9 a las 16:00, there will be music, art and other cultural activities in the parque San Blas. On el domingo, 29/9, there will be a free turistic tour, “Ruta Milenaria” through different sectors of the province. Meet at 8:00 in the Casa de la Provincia. <It will probably be in Spanish, but you can enjoy the views without knowing the language.>

Del El Mercurio del miércoles, 25/9 (2 articles):

Tickets are on sale for the Sting’s Cuenca stop on the South American tour.

Las entradas para ver a Sting se venderán desde mañana (Sting tickets on sale starting tomorrow) – Sting, formerly of The Police, will perform in the estadio “Alejandro Serrano Aguilar” on el 28/2/2025 as part of “The Sting 3.0” tour organized in Ecuador by Feel the Club. Tickets range in price from $30 to $185 not including IVA. Tickets will be sold in 2 phases. The first from el 26-29/9 can only be bought with Banco del Austro credit or debit cards at www.feelthetickets.com. Ticket sales to the general public start el 30/9 at the ticket offices at the stadium, Mall del Río, and Milenium Plaza. There are also sales points in Guayaquil and Quito. Sting will be accompanied by Deminic Miller on guitar and Chris Maas on drums.

“Sinfonía de la creación” en Viernes Cultural (“Symphony of Creation” at Cultural Friday) – The youth of the ASU Culturales groups of the University Politécnica Salesiana with headquarters in Guayaquil, will present the multidisciplinary performance of “Sinfonía de la creación” in the “Carlos Crespi” theater viernes, el 27/9 a las 10:00 y 19:00. The performance will combine art with a social message about environmental consciousness and responsible action. The theater doors will open one hour before the shows. Free.

Titular –

Gran ‘reserva’ de agua subterránea junto al río Tarqui (Large ground water ‘reservoir’ next to the Tarqui River) – See article below in Cuenca Section.

Cuenca –

Un gran acuífero junto al Tarqui (A large aquifer next to the Tarqui) – An alternative for dealing with the scarcity of water during periods of drought is the extraction of underground water which is estimated to be near the Tarqui River to the south of the city. This water could be used for human consumption, irrigation, and therefore to mitigate the effects of the drought. Felipe Cisneros, exdirector of the Programa para el Manejo del Agua y el Suelo (Promas – Water and Soil Management Program) and Doctor of water sciences and resources, said this is feasible. Promas of the U. of Cuenca, has a preliminary diagnosis that needs to be amplified by hydrolic studies to identify the quantity and quality of the available underground water.

Cisneros said that the Tarqui watershed is the largest of the 4 rivers with an area of 477.42 sq. km. This is followed by the Yanuncay until it joins the Tarqui with an area of 414.85, then the Tomebamba until it joins the Yanuncay with an area of 326.67, and finally the Machángara until it joins the Tomebamba with an area of 332. sq. km. The first thing to do will be is to drill boreholes in different areas to identify water quantity and quality, then develop an exploitation plan and identify where wells can be bored to extract the water, and finally how to store and transport the water for processing. This is a possibility for supplying Cuenca in the future, but it needs to be cared for. Currently there is pollution of the reserve from ranching, lack of sewer systems and other activities. He said estimated the studies would take from 6 to 8 months.

Paúl Martínez, a civil engineer and hydrology researcher who did his thesis on protecting the Río Tarqui explained the evidence for the existence of a large aquifer. He said that the annual precipitation in the Tarqui watershed is from 1.100 mm. to 1.300 mm. while that in the Yanuncay watershed is from 900 mm. to 1,175 mm. But the average flow in the Tarqui is 3.2 cubic meters per second and that of the Yanuncayis 6.35 cu. m/sec. Therefore, the water falling on the Tarqui watershed is not reflected in its flow. Martínez also said that the 70% of the sub-watershed of the Yanuncay is covered by páramo while only 13% of the Tarqui watershed is covered by páramo. If we look at the capacity of the soils in the páramos to store water, that would mean we should see precipitation show up more rapidly in the Tarqui where less of the watershed is covered by páramo, than in the Yanuncay. But this is not the case, which brings us to think that the water is not reaching the Tarqui but but is staying somewhere else. We are thinking that it is staying in a large natural reservoir. <So how long will it take Cuenca to drain that aquifer or will the extraction be at the same rate as the recharge – more in drought years, and none in rainy years? I can see the other water projects getting ditched because “Now we’ll never run out of water!”>

Inamhi prognostica lluvias (Inamhi forecasts rain) – According to forecasts by the Instituto Nacional de Meteorología y Hidrología (Inamhi), there should be rain in Cuenca between el viernes 27/9 and el domingo, 29/9. Bolívar Erazo, director of forecasting for the organization, expects heavier rain this weekend than fell last weekend. According to ETAPA, the likelihood of rain is high with a 67% chance el 27/9, a 90% chance el 28/9, and an 83% chance el domingo.

Nacional –

Barcaza turca ha generado el 12% de capacidad total (Turkish barge has generated 12% of total capacity) – According to real time reports from the Operador National de Electricidad (Cenace), the Turkish barge which the country paid $117 million to rent, has only generated 12 megawatts of electricity or 12% of the contracted amount of 100 megawatts. Up til the paper went to print, it had not received information from the authorities nor the representatives of Karpowership as to why the production of power gradually dropped.

El pasado domingo, it went from 100 megawatts to 87, then 52, then 17 and finally 12 ayer. <How come Ecuador gets these shoddy projects from rich countries – like the Chinese-built hydro-electric plant, now the Turkish power ship, down to the French made circus tent here in Cuenca with faulty welding in the frame and which leaked before the first show?>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne