WEJ's new associate editor Leopoldo Mendoza Espinosa talks water reuse, education and more

Leopoldo Mendoza Espinosa, deputy director of the Oceanographic Research Institute (IIO) of the University of Baja California (UABC) at Ensenada, Mexico, is one of two associate editors at the Water and Environmental Journal (WEJ). He introduces himself, talks about his new role and looks to the future for the water and environmental sector.

Tell us more about your new role as associate editor at the Water and Environmental Journal (WEJ)?

I have been on the Editorial Board of WEJ for the past 3 years, which means that I have been a very active reviewer too. During this time, I have become familiar with the way the journal operates and the standard it already has plus the one it’s trying to reach.

I have previous experience as an editor for another academic journal so when I heard about the opportunity to become an associate editor for WEJ I jumped at the chance. I was nervous during the interview, it made me remember my days as a graduate student! But luckily it went really well, and I got selected.

How do you imagine your professional background as the deputy director of the Oceanographic Research Institute (IIO) of the University of Baja California (UABC) at Ensenada, Mexico will feed into your role?

I am an academic with more than 22 years of experience in the wastewater treatment field. I am an Oceanographer initially interested in ocean pollution and then migrating into environmental engineering dealing with wastewater treatment.

Plus, for the past 15 years I have had to learn about water-conflicts resolution, economic analysis and water-management models. So I believe I can provide an interdisciplinary approach to most water and wastewater projects which I believe is essential for these to be successful.

As an academic, I have enough experience to know that we must undertake many different activities such as lectures, students’ supervision, research projects management and so on. I believe it is a question of getting oneself organised to fit the new responsibilities. I wouldn’t have accepted the new role if I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to achieve this.

What role do you see journals, such as WEJ, playing in helping turn the climate conversation into climate action?

I see great potential as I strongly believe that we can only take successful decisions based on scientific and technical facts. WEJ can be a platform to publish the type of research needed to close the gap between scientists and decision makers.

What one thing do you predict will have the biggest influence on the water and environmental management sector in 2023, particularly in relation water reuse, your area of interest?

I think that changes are already happening in relation to water reuse. A combination of less availability of conventional water sources, plus better understanding of the risks associated to water reuse projects has resulted in more projects going forward.

However, there is still a very large gap between the “zero-risk” approach of developed countries and the “tolerable-risk” approach for developing nations. The latter cannot afford to make large investments in water technology to treat wastewater to potable standards.

Nevertheless, this is fine, as long as the objectives of the reuse scheme are clear and agreed upon by all stakeholders and reclaimed water is used for, let’s say, irrigation, where potable water standards are not needed. The important thing is to plan for water reuse and not just let it happen casually.

What could the UK learn from the Mexico in terms of water and environmental management?

Unfortunately, I don’t think that we have many successful water management stories in Mexico and, as a result most of our rivers are polluted and some cities are struggling to meet urban demands. However, what I can add is that perhaps people in the UK and developed countries in general can learn that they can decrease their water (and energy) consumption without really having to sacrifice too much.

It is clear that the human population cannot live sustainably aspiring to meet Western standards. We must all be more empathic and take care of our natural resources and this includes water. As scientists, engineers and academics we can help educate the new generations to achieve this.

Did you know you could set up a table of contents alert as a prompt to read the latest issue of WEJ? Setting up an alert couldn’t be simpler. On the journal home page (WEJ) click the ‘get content alerts’ button and use your login details.