El Paso, Texas, Sept. 12, 2002 -- El Paso increased water treatment capacity today for residents of the city and its surrounding colonias, as the El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board officially opened a $37.82 million water treatment plant expansion, partially funded by the North American Development Bank (NADB).
Officials of the El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board were joined by officials of the NADB, the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, the Texas Water Development Board and community leaders at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Jonathan W. Rogers Water Treatment Plant Expansion.
The expansion to the plant increases water treatment capacity from 40 to 60 million gallons per day, augmenting the supply of potable water available to the city's rapidly-growing Eastside/Lower Valley area, according to Ed Archuleta, General Manager of El Paso Water Utilities.
"The additional surface water represents a 25 percent increase in the amount of water El Paso can take from the river," Archuleta said. "This allows us to conserve our dwindling groundwater supplies by reducing withdrawals from the Hueco Bolson aquifer."
NADB is contributing grant assistance totaling $14.91 million, made available through the Bank's EPA-funded Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF). The remaining project cost was financed through municipal bonds.
"We are pleased to celebrate the opening of the Jonathan W. Rogers Water Treatment Plant Expansion with the citizens of El Paso," stated Raul Rodriguez, NADB Managing Director. "The completion of this facility represents our on-going effort to finance projects that provide residents of the U.S.-Mexico border region with a quality water supply."
Established in 1997, the BEIF is a grant program administered by the NADB to fund and facilitate environmental infrastructure 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. More than $356 million in BEIF assistance has been approved to date.
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.
