(San Antonio, TX) – The North American Development Bank (NADB) and the City of Presidio signed a $3 million grant agreement. The grant is being provided through NADB’s Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), which is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and will go toward improvements to the city’s drinking water system.
The BEIF grant will finance a portion of the project’s total cost of $3.8 million, while a loan also provided by NADB to the City of Presidio of up to $800,000 will provide the rest of the necessary funding to complete the project. The loan is expected to be signed by the end of Spring 2020 with a bid for construction being award by the beginning of June. The project is expected to take 12 months to complete.
“Currently, residents in the area rely on hauled water for household usage, which represents a significant risk for exposure to waterborne diseases. With this project, the City of Presidio can provide residents with a reliable and sustainable drinking water system,” said Calixto Mateos-Hanel, NADB Managing Director.
The project, which was approved by the NADB Board of Directors in November 2019, will improve access for 1,783 existing residential connections and water resource management by preventing at least 80,000 gallons per day in water losses from the distribution system, equivalent to reducing current water losses from approximately 30% to less than or equal to 20%.
The project will include the construction of a transmission line between two storage tanks, a new water line along U.S. Highway 67 to provide first-time service to 10 residential customers, a new booster station and a new 50,000-gallon water storage tank.
This project will address service interruptions and water losses resulting from frequent line breaks.
###
NADB 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 environmentally and financially sustainable projects with broad community support in a framework of close cooperation and coordination between Mexico and the United States.