Nogales, Sonora, Aug. 25, 2003 -- Sonora Governor Armando Lopez Nogales, accompanied by Raúl Rodríguez, managing director of the North American Development Bank (NADB), kicked off construction of part of a 33-kilometer water distribution system known locally as the "Acuaférico," which will increase water distribution and storage capacity for the city's 160,000 residents.
The local water utility, Comisión de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado del Estado de Sonora (COAPAES), is sponsoring the project and will receive a US$8.69 million grant from the NADB to help finance its construction. The grant is being made available through the Bank's EPA-funded Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF).
"This important project will not only provide better service to the community, but also ensure greater efficiency in the use of this valuable resource, which is becoming increasingly scarce," commented, NADB Managing Director Raúl Rodríguez. "The Bank will continue working with the Sonora border communities to provide support for your environmental infrastructure projects."
The Water Supply and Distribution Project is expected to cost a total of US$39 million and will be carried out in two phases. The construction of several first-phase components have already been completed with an estimated US$9 million investment from the Mexican federal water agency, Comisión Nacional del Agua (CNA).
Through its BEIF program, the NADB has approved more than US$470 million in EPA-funded grants to support the construction of environmental infrastructure in various communities, which will benefit residents on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Since its inception in 1995, the NADB has approved more than US$606 million in loans and grants for 61 infrastructure projects in the border region.
For more information on the NADB, visit www.nadb.org.
The North American Development Bank, created under the auspices of NAFTA, 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.
