San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 26, 2002 -- Representatives from the water utility Comision de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado del Estado de Sonora (COAPAES) signed a US$8.69 million grant at the North American Development Bank (NADB).
The grant will be applied towards the construction of a water supply and distribution project aimed at improving service efficiency for the city's 157,787 residents. This grant is being made available through the Bank's EPA-funded Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF).
"The NADB's contribution to this pivotal project for Nogales will allow COAPAES to significantly enhance its water distribution and storage capacity for all Nogales residents," commented Raul Rodriguez, NADB Managing Director. "We are also working on other financing options to provide ongoing support to this community for the rehabilitation and expansion of its distribution system."
The $39 million project 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 national water commission, Comision Nacional del Agua (CNA).
"We are pleased to have accomplished this agreement with the Bank," said Luis Manuel Robles, representative from Sonora State Government, and added that "Today, the NADB is the catalyst for border communities to access funds for the development of their infrastructure projects."
The NADB is also providing additional assistance to COAPAES through its Institutional Development Cooperation Program (IDP), to develop a waterline survey, geographic information system (GIS), user registry update and water rate study. These studies are aimed at strengthening the utility's institutional capacity and operating efficiency.
At the ceremony, COAPAES and the Bank also signed a $467,531 BEIF grant for a project which will provide first-time wastewater services to more than 300 households in El Sasabe, a small rural district that is located in the municipality of El Saric, Sonora. The grant represents half of the total cost of this project.
To date the NADB has provided over $460 million in loans and grants for 52 projects along the U.S.-Mexico border. These projects represent a total infrastructure investment of over $1.35 billion. NADB-funded projects are bringing new or improved water, wastewater and solid waste services to more than 6 million residents of the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Established in 1997, the BEIF is a grant program administered by the NADB to fund and facilitate water and wastewater projects throughout the U.S.-Mexico border region. EPA provided an initial contribution of $170 million for water and wastewater projects with an additional $166 million added to the fund by EPA in the past three years.
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.
