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NADB provides US$18.95 million loan for third wastewater collection and treatment project in Mexicali, Baja California
San Antonio, Texas
– The North American Development Bank (NADB) is providing an US$18.95
million loan to the local water utility in Mexicali, Baja California—Comisión
Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Mexicali (CESPM)—for the
construction of the Mexicali IV wastewater collection system to serve
more than 26,000 residents in nine subdivisions on the east side of the
city.
With this project, CESPM will be able to
provide first-time wastewater collection and treatment services to an
area currently without service. The project consists of installing sewer
lines in nine subdivisions, constructing six collectors and three force
mains and pump stations, as well as doubling the capacity of the Las
Arenitas Wastewater Treatment Plant, from 20 million to 40 million
gallons per day (MGD), which will be sufficient to serve 337,900
residents in the medium and long term.
The total cost of the project is estimated
at US$46.96 million, and NADB is financing approximately 38 percent of
the cost with a 15-year, market-rate loan.
This
project is the third phase of CESPM’s Wastewater Collection and
Treatment Master Plan. The first two phases—known as the Mexicali
Sanitation Program and the Mexicali II Wastewater System Improvements
Project—focused on rehabilitating and expanding the Mexcali I and II
wastewater collection and treatment systems, which were completed in
September and October 2007, respectively.
For the first two phases, NADB provided a
total of US$33.5 million in grants through its Border Environment
Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), which is funded by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
As a result of these projects, Mexicali’s
wastewater collection system now reaches approximately 91% of the city’s
population and 100% of the wastewater collected is treated in compliance
with Mexican federal regulations.
The Mexicali IV project was certified by
the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and received
funding approval from NADB on October 30, 2007. The corresponding loan
agreement was signed on April 30, 2008.
To date, NADB has helped fund 118 environmental infrastructure projects
throughout the U.S.-Mexico border region with a total of $958.5 million
in loans and grants For more information about NADB, visit our website at:
www.nadb.org.
The North American Development Bank is a
financial institution established and capitalized in equal parts by the United States and Mexico for the purpose of financing
environmental infrastructure projects along their common border.
As a pioneer institution in its field, the Bank is working to
develop integrated, sustainable and fiscally responsible projects with
broad community support in a framework of close cooperation and
coordination between Mexico
and the United States. |
