World Water Day

Going with the flow: Protecting water resources deep beneath the Californian desert.

I like it because it gives me an excuse to go out of the office and enjoy the view of the desert.For 37 years, Cresencio Anchetta – who’s known to his colleagues as “Junior” – has worked at Rio Tinto’s Boron operations in California.

After joining as a 20-year-old analyst in the laboratory at Boron, Junior moved into the engineering department, and today works as senior environmental technician.

One of Junior’s favourite tasks is groundwater monitoring. After packing up his kit in the flat bed of his truck, Junior drives out into the Mojave Desert, and begins his tour of the 120 evaluation wells dotted around the peaceful, arid landscape.

“I like it because it gives me an excuse to go out of the office and enjoy the view of the desert,” he says.
Junior takes samples of water from deep underground, and analyses them for properties like pH, conductivity and temperature. He also measures soil moisture content. The samples are sent to the lab for further analysis, and the results added to the company’s environmental database.

The work is an essential part of the company’s approach to protecting water quality, and provides assurance to stakeholders that this valuable resource is being properly managed. “This process is very important to the mine because it’s a permit condition,” says Junior. “It keeps the mine operating.”

Watch Junior’s story, and find out more about Rio Tinto’s commitment to using and managing water responsibly.