The North American Development Bank has agreed to invest $200,000 in grant funding to projects to reduce wastewater flow into the Rio Grande along the U.S.-Mexico border.
San Antonio-based NADBank, the City of Nuevo Laredo, its local water utility (COMAPA), the Tamaulipas state water agency (CEAT) and the Mexican National Water Commission (CONAGUA) entered into the agreement last week at an event held in Nuevo Laredo.
NADBank's technical assistance program will provide $200,000 in grant funding to COMAPA for a study that will provide a needs assessment and preliminary engineering for the project. The new proposal lays out the investments needed to replace deteriorated sanitary sewer and collection systems in the area, revamp existing wastewater treatment plants and extend the area's sewer system to areas without service.
The study will also lay out amounts of investments needed to improve the International and Northwest Treatment Plants and expand the latter, cutting down on discharge into the Rio Grande.
Calixto Mateos-Hanel, managing director at NADBank, said the proposal will be an important step to addressing sewage flows in the Rio Grande and that NADBank is committed to helping Nuevo Laredo find cost-effective and long-term solutions to collecting and treating its wastewater.
For a year and a half, NADBank has been working alongside Nuevo Laredo and COMAPA to develop this financing and investment plan, and has already contributed more than $450,000 to the project through its Project Development Assistance Program, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
NADBank was established in 1994 during North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Its goal is to develop and finance infrastructure on the U.S.-Mexico border.
