San Antonio, Texas – The North American Development Bank (NADBank) signed a US$2.4 million grant agreement with the water utility, Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Mexicali (CESPM) in Mexicali, Baja California, to finance its Phase II wastewater system improvement project. These improvements will help reduce the risk of pipeline breaks and sewage spills onto local streets and into the New River, which flows northward into the United States.
The grant is being provided through the Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), which is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and administered by NADBank.
The project consists of replacing approximately 43,500 feet of deteriorated sewer lines in 20 subdivisions that convey an average of about 2.2 million gallons per day of wastewater to the city’s treatment plants. The BEIF grant will mainly be used to address the infrastructure in the Prohogar and Hidalgo subdivisions.
The rehabilitated infrastructure will improve system reliability and wastewater services for up to 11,624 existing residential connections by preventing sewage leaks and spills, which will help protect human health and the environment on both sides of the border.
This project is part of CESPM’s Strategic Wastewater Plan to eliminate and reduce untreated wastewater discharges to the New River, prioritize infrastructure rehabilitation activities and establish a financing strategy.
To date, NADBank has partnered with CESPM to finance seven wastewater collection and treatment projects in Mexicali.
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NADBank 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 ssosteniblesustainable projects with broad community support in a framework of close cooperation and coordination between Mexico and the United States.