August 2026 Project Status Update: Contractors, Signatures, and the Last Mile Before Construction
After the extraordinary momentum of July — a record mission team, a groundbreaking, two WASH workshops, 1,200 care packages — August brought the work that follows a breakthrough: the patient, precise preparation that turns a shovel in the ground into a system that runs for generations. In Las Mercedes KM11, the Regional Government spent the month building the contractor selection package while the community's Water Committee recognition moved to within one signature of becoming official. In Las Mercedes, engineering continued and a pivotal legal question about land rights is heading toward resolution. In Totoral Bajo, the surveyor delivered complete CAD maps of all six community sectors, giving the project its most accurate technical picture yet. September is shaping up to be decisive across all three projects — and our Peru Projects and Programs Director, Ricardo Arbulu Guerra, will be on the ground in Piura in the first week of the month to make sure it is.
Las Mercedes KM11 (approx. 1,200 people) — ON TRACK
One Signature Away. A Contractor on Deck. Construction Imminent.
August in Las Mercedes KM11 was defined by two parallel tracks moving toward the same finish line: contractor selection and JASS recognition — and both came right to the edge of completion.
On the engineering side, the Regional Government of Piura spent all of August preparing the Technical Record needed to formally begin the contractor selection process — specifying the construction budget line by line, resolving the final engineering and design details, and ensuring every element complies with local regulations. This is the document that makes it possible to hire a contractor with full legal and technical clarity. Getting it right takes time. Getting it wrong costs more.
On the community governance side, the Water Committee continued its weekly coordination meetings with VAVV throughout August, sharpening the operations and maintenance procedures, system management practices, and financial controls that will govern the clean water system once it is running. Meanwhile, VAVV continued pressing the Municipality of Piura to issue the official Resolution acknowledging the JASS — the community's Water and Sanitation Service Management Committee. On August 14, the Population Commission formally approved the acknowledgement. The order is now written and waiting for the Mayor's signature. That signature, and everything it unlocks, is the first order of business in September.
Looking ahead: In the first week of September, Ricardo will travel to Piura and meet in person with Municipal officers, Regional Government representatives, and the JASS and village leaders — a critical convergence visit to push all remaining items across the line simultaneously. In the second week of September, the JASS will receive its official Municipal Recognition Resolution and complete registration in Public Records. That same week, VAVV and GRP will meet with the selected contractor for the pre-construction meeting, and the contractor will be formally hired to begin construction with sweat equity support from the community. By the end of September, a GPS and alarm system will be purchased for the Water Tanker Truck. After years of planning, permitting, and preparation — construction is weeks away.
Las Mercedes (approx. 1,200 people) — ON TRACK
Engineering Advances, and a Key Legal Question Heads Toward Resolution
August kept Las Mercedes moving steadily forward on two fronts: engineering and land rights — the twin pillars this project depends on.
On August 14, VAVV held the fourth engineering design meeting for the Las Mercedes groundwater well and infrastructure. These meetings are where the well takes shape — where elevation data meets aquifer data meets community need and becomes a design that will actually work. Engineering meetings continued throughout August as the design deepened.
The month's most consequential thread, however, was legal. Since July, VAVV has been working with PECHP — the regional hydraulic and irrigation authority — to determine how to properly transfer land rights to the community over the area designated for the well and kiosk. The question at the center of it: does the public deed need to be formally amended, or is an easement alone sufficient? The answer determines the legal pathway for everything that follows. Throughout August, VAVV continued that follow-up with PECHP, building toward a resolution. That resolution will come on September 3, when VAVV meets in person with PECHP's Executive Director, attorneys, and engineers to decide the path forward once and for all.
Looking ahead: On September 3, VAVV will meet at PECHP's offices with executive leadership, attorneys, and engineers to determine whether a deed amendment or easement is the correct legal instrument — and to set the process in motion. In the second week of September, the community will work to secure the formal issuance of the easement and additional land rights required for the project. Engineering meetings for the planning and design of the groundwater well and infrastructure will continue throughout all of September. Once the land rights question is resolved, the legal and technical tracks of this project will be fully aligned.
Totoral Bajo (approx. 800 people) — ON TRACK
The Maps Are In. The Picture Is Complete. Water Rights Are Next.
August was a month of data becoming documents in Totoral Bajo — and the result is the most complete technical picture this project has ever had.
On August 18, community leader Eloy provided VAVV with a comprehensive information package covering the community in full detail: population by sector, weather patterns, economic activities, current infrastructure, geographic coordinates, and existing community associations. This is the kind of ground-level knowledge that no engineer can gather from a desk — it comes from leaders who know their community and trust VAVV enough to share it precisely.
Three days later, on August 21, VAVV's contracted surveyor delivered the CAD files for the entire community and all its surrounding villages — accurate boundaries for each of the six sectors, population figures, and geographic limits rendered in technical format for the first time. Combined with the multi-agency field visit conducted during the July mission trip, Totoral Bajo now has a complete data foundation: physical, demographic, and geographic. The project knows what it is working with.
That foundation makes September's moves possible. Ricardo will visit Piura in the first week of September to meet directly with surveyors, engineers, leaders, and government officers in preparation for the water rights submission — the critical permitting step that unlocks the next phase of engineering. By the end of September, VAVV aims to have contracted a topographic surveyor to survey the proposed water system alignment and to have begun preparing the Technical Record for submission to the Local Water Authority.
Looking ahead: In the first week of September, Ricardo will visit Piura and meet with surveyors, engineers, community leaders, and government officers to set up the water rights submission process. By the end of September, VAVV will contract a topographic surveyor to survey the proposed alignment for the water system, and will begin preparing the Technical Record to submit to the Local Water Authority to obtain water rights over the selected river source. The community will support VAVV throughout the month in preparing that record. A project that began with blank maps now has full CAD files, confirmed sector data, and a clear technical direction. The next milestone is water rights — and the work to get there starts now.
Next Steps
August was the quiet month between a historic July and what promises to be a decisive September. The contractor selection package for Las Mercedes KM11 is built. The JASS recognition is one signature away. The land rights path for Las Mercedes is about to be decided at the highest level. Totoral Bajo has its maps, its data, and its direction.
In the first week of September, Ricardo will be in Piura — meeting with municipal officers, the Regional Government, PECHP, surveyors, engineers, and community leaders across all three projects in a single visit. That kind of in-person, multi-stakeholder coordination is how things that have been close for months finally cross the finish line. We are watching years of work — by communities, by government partners, by engineers, by missionaries, and by donors like you — converge into something real. And right now, there is a way to double your part in that story.
Our North Texas Giving Day Early Giving is LIVE — and every dollar you give is being matched. North Texas Giving Day funds are invested right here in the DFW community, which means your gift directly fuels our local Care Package Initiative — the program that assembles and ships care packages to families in rural Peru who are living without clean water while they wait for their systems to be built. This year, our mission team delivered a record 1,200 care packages to families in Totoral Bajo and Las Mercedes. That number grows because of what happens here at home first.
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