PATAGONIA, Ariz., Sept. 24, 2003 -- The Town of Patagonia kicked off construction Tuesday for a $2.3 million wastewater treatment facility replacement and sewer system improvements project at a special ceremony.
Mayor Terri Woodhouse was joined at the event by local elected officials and representatives from the North American Development Bank (NADB), U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD) and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
The NADB is providing a $1.3 million grant through its EPA-funded Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF). Other funding sources for the Patagonia project include USDA-RD, the Arizona Water and Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA), and the State of Arizona through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
"Thanks to the hard work, determination and combined efforts of everyone involved we have reached another important milestone. Patagonia is a perfect example of how border communities lack the financial resources necessary to provide the necessary level of funding for these kinds of critical infrastructure projects," stated Mayor Terri Woodhouse. "Without the grant assistance awarded by the NADB, this project would not have been possible."
The two-phase project consists of constructing a new 110,000 gallon per day wastewater treatment facility, and the second phase consists of the replacement and the rehabilitation of the town's sewer collection lines.
As a result of these improvements, health and environmental problems will be reduced for the 881 residents of Patagonia, which is located approximately 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The improved treatment facilities will produce a better quality effluent and rehabilitation of the sewage collection system will reduce the amount of untreated wastewater leaking from deteriorated lines and infiltrating into the ground water.
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 US$617.5 million in loans and grants for 67 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.
