Voices of the Estuary This project explores, through oral history, the experiences and stories of residents in the communities that make up the San Juan Bay estuary watershed. This exercise recovers the urban memory of the transformation of the Greater Puerto Rico area and its natural heritage. This initiative of the San Juan Bay Estuary Program is made possible by a grant from the Puerto Rican Foundation for the Humanities.
Angélica Huertas, a resident of the Juana Matos community in Cataño, still lived in the same home she bought some 70 years ago, back when the community was settled on swampy land covered in trash. Today, one of her ten children, Pedro Carrión, is working to restore the area and leads a neighborhood effort to protect the Las Cucharillas Marsh Nature Reserve, part of the San Juan Bay estuary. We dedicate this fragment of history to the memory of Angélica Huertas.
Protecting natural resources requires the active participation of surrounding communities. Residents who have lived alongside nature for generations know how to maintain a respectful relationship with the green infrastructure necessary for sustainability. In this episode, Maricruz Rivera Clemente shares lessons inherited from her ancestors that now drive important empowerment and self-management initiatives in Piñones, an essential part of the San Juan Bay estuary ecosystem.
The residents of the Cantera community in San Juan arrived from all over Puerto Rico in search of work during the first half of the last century. Lacking housing, they improvised shacks on the shores of the San José Lagoon, which was then bioluminescent and teeming with fish. José Santiago Reíllo, a teacher and veteran community leader, recalls how human activity degraded that body of water and how, decades later, the determination and unity of the community have helped to restore it.
In the Caimito neighborhood, nestled in the mountains south of San Juan, the Chiclana stream originates, one of the waterways that feed the Piedras River, which flows into San Juan Bay. On the stream's banks, neighbor Hidelisa Román and community leader Juan Cruz enjoyed an environment rich in flora and fauna. They lived through pivotal periods in the history, transformation, and environmental justice of this community. Here they share their stories, struggles, and experiences.
Listen also
Sound Estuary It features interviews with resilient communities and members of the Estuary team. It also provides useful information for the conservation of water bodies, the progress of water quality within the eight (8) municipalities that comprise the San Juan Bay Estuary, and updates on the entity and its activities with the Executive Director.
Deep Estuary It brings you in-depth interviews with various personalities from the environmental and educational fields in Puerto Rico.
Millie Gil interviews attorney Rafael Machargo Maldonado, secretary of the Department of Natural Resources (DRNA).
Millie Gil interviews Carmen R. Guerrero, environmental planner and director of the Caribbean environmental protection division of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Millie Gil interviews Professor, researcher and specialist in soil health and water quality, Gustavo Martínez.
Millie Gil interviews Fernando Lloveras San Miguel, executive director of the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust.
Millie Gil interviews Rebecca Gonzalez, coordinator of the Estuary's resilience team and community liaison unit.
In the fifth episode of Deep Estuary, Millie Gil interviews Maria Luisa Cortijo and Juan Pablo Vizcaíno, mother and son, from El Ancón de Loíza.
In the fourth episode of #DeepEstuary, Millie Gil interviews environmental journalist Gerardo Alvarado León. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app, or listen here.
Millie Gil interviews Jorge Bauzá, biologist and scientific director of the San Juan Bay Estuary Program.
Cristina Ramirez, a geographer and expert in solid waste management, is the coordinator of alliances and community outreach for the San Juan Bay Estuary Program, and she talks with Millie Gil on Deep Estuary.
In this new episode of Estuario Sonoro, we talk about green infrastructure with Dr. Elvia Meléndez, ecologist and professor of Environmental Sciences at UPR Río Piedras; architect Brenda Martínez tells us about existing projects, and Brenda Torres, director of the Estuary, elaborates on the topic.
We spoke with Dr. Tischa Muñoz, a scientific researcher and expert on the effects of flooding in urban areas. Brenda Torres, the director of the Estuary, elaborated on the topic within the context of the San Juan Bay estuary watershed.
We discussed the Mitigation Plan for the San Juan Bay Estuary watershed with Yulianna de la Cruz, project manager; Zuleyka Cruz, risk mitigation planner; Marisabel Rodríguez, green infrastructure project manager; and Brenda Torres Barreto, executive director of the Estuary.
In the new episode of Estuario Sonoro, we highlight the project "Que no toque el piso ni llegue al agua" (Don't Let It Touch the Floor or Reach the Water), a responsible waste management campaign on Loíza Street in Santurce. We talk with Iliana García and Yaritza Lozano, members of the community. Cristina Ramírez gives us tips on how to reduce our waste, and Brenda Torres tells us about the project's origins.
We discussed the organization's educational work with Eliezer Nieves, director of the Estuary's education program. Coral Avilés, education coordinator, told us about the eBird app; and we remembered Gamaliel Pagán, singer-songwriter and bird lover for whom the San Juan Bay Estuary Program's Annual Bird Census is named.
We spoke with biologists Jorge Bauzá and Harold Manrique about water quality and the role of citizen scientists. In "Note the Facts," Coral Avilés, the Estuary's education coordinator, tells us what we can do to contribute to water quality.
We talked about crisis and mental health with Dr. Carisa Cabán; in Note the Facts, social worker Amarilis García tells us about how to stay healthy at an individual and collective level.
We discussed global warming with biologists Jorge Bauzá and Edwin Hernández, who spoke about the effects of heat on coral reefs. In the "Note the Facts" segment, Cristina Ramírez, a waste management expert, discussed measures we can take to slow down climate change.
Listen to the fifth episode of Estuario Sonoro: Laguna del Condado; on your favorite podcast app or right here:
El Ancón in Loíza pays tribute to the history of that area through community work and art. We spoke with Alex Villegas, coordinator of the Estuary Resilient Center, Juan Pablo Vizcaíno and María Luisa Cortijo from El Ancón, and Gabriel Agosto tells us about gardens and ginger cultivation. Brenda Torres, director of El Estuario, tells us about the Río Grande de Loíza.
01 A conversation about the San Juan Bay Estuary, whose basin extends through eight municipalities and is the space inhabited by multiple species of plants and animals.
