NUEVO LAREDO - The rehabilitation of two sewer mains in Nuevo Laredo are important for downstream communities that rely on the Rio Grande.
This is the view of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar. He praised the North American Development for making the two rehabilitation projects - Colector Ribereño and the Colector Donato Guerra - happen.
NADBank is providing $8 million dollars in grants from the Bank's Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), which is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The money will rehabilitate the Colector Ribereño and the Colector Donato Guerra.
“This project is vital for border communities and for the downstream communities that rely on the Rio Grande. When we invest in cross-border infrastructure, we protect American families who depend on the river for drinking water,” Cuellar said.
Cuellar said he is a “strong supporter” of NADBank and the critical projects that it helps develop.
“That is why I helped increase its capital reauthorization through the USMCA and have worked, through my role on the Appropriations Committee, to secure critical federal funding for infrastructure projects along the border,” Cuellar said.
USMCA stands for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“As a senior appropriator, I will continue to secure critical funding for projects that support our local communities,” Cuellar added.
Recently, NADBank held a groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of the Colector Ribereño and the Colector Donato Guerra wastewater sewer mains. The bank is working alongside the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo, the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico’s National Water Commission (CONAGUA), and the local water utility Comision de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Nuevo Laredo (COMAPA) on the projects.
According to COMAPA, approximately 98% of homes in its service area are connected to the wastewater collection system and consist of approximately 407 km (253 miles) of wastewater lines that mainly operate by gravity. The city also has 12 lift stations and 9.5 km (5.9 miles) of force mains to convey the sanitary sewer to the Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP).
The total project cost amounts to approximately US$81.2 million, financed through a successful combination of BEIF funds, a commercial loan of up to US$6 million and Mexican federal, state, and local funds of $52.2 million representing 64.7% of the total project cost. The International Boundary Water Commission also participated with part of the financing.
Salvador López Córdova, NADBank's chief environmental officer, said the two projects are part of a Comprehensive Wastewater Collection and Treatment Project that will benefit more than 400,000 residents.
“NADBank is proud to be part of this vital undertaking for the citywide rehabilitation of Nuevo Laredo’s wastewater system,” López said.“NADBank played a key role in structuring the infrastructure financing plan and coordinating with the different agencies that are collaborating to bring this project to reality. Over the next three years, the project will significantly reduce transboundary wastewater flows into the Rio Grande, which is essential for the long-term regional well-being & embody the very purpose for which NADBank was established.”
López said the Comprehensive Wastewater Collection and Treatment project will rehabilitate and expand the wastewater collection system for more than 120, 000 residential connections and double the treatment capacity of two of the three existing WWTPs, which will decrease system failure and prevent discharge of approximately 12.6 million gallons per day of untreated wastewater into groundwater and surface water, including the Rio Grande. The downstream communities on both sides of the border that rely on the river for their drinking water supply will also benefit.
For several years, NADBank has worked closely with the City and COMAPA in structuring the investment and financing plan for the project, López explained, providing more than US$650,000 in technical assistance, with resources from both the Bank and EPA, to support studies, assessments and preliminary designs underpinning this transformation.
Work to rehabilitate the wastewater collection system began in 2019 with investments from the municipal government and federal funding through Conagua.
In addition to López, the event included participation from Nuevo Laredo Mayor Carmen Lilia Canturosas Villareal, Tamaulipas Secretary of Water Resources for Social Development Raul Quiroga Alvarez, and CONAGUA’s Regional Director of the Río Grande watershed, Luis Carlos Alatorre, along with representatives from COMAPA.
(Photo credit: NADBank)
