oEPA
U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Program FY 2017 Annual Report
Santa Cruz
K River
Rio Grande
^ Riyer
Sonora Chihuahua \
Mexico
California
EPA's U.S.-Mexico Border Water
Infrastructure Program (BWIP) funds the
planning, design, and construction of
high priority water and wastewater
infrastructure projects along the U.S.-
Mexico border. The BWIP provides hands
-on management and technical oversight
for pre-construction activities such as
planning, engineering, environmental
reviews, and design. This assistance
benefits communities lacking the
technical and managerial capacity
needed to complete all pre-construction
requirements and increases their
opportunities to receive construction
funding from other programs, such as
Arizona
United States
New Mexico I
Pacific
Ocean
Texas
California
Baja California
Legend
Transboundary watersheds 	~ Rivers and flow direction
I Border 2020 priority watersheds'- <	U5.-Mexico border
| U.S. states	— — Border Region'
Mexico states Moo mode tn the Sorser Inwonment Cooperoinwi Commistion fBtCC)
Tamaulipas
Gulf of
Mexico
200
5 Miles
Figure 1: Map of U.S.-Mexico Border Region
Texas' Economically Distressed Areas Program and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Water and
Environmental Programs. The BWIP also assists communities in identifying and securing all available funding sources
needed to fill construction funding gaps, ensuring access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation often for the
first time.
Several rivers along the border flow northward from Mexico to the U.S. and the Rio Grande forms the natural border
between the two countries. Through a joint investment partnership with Mexico, the BWIP addresses would-be
transboundary sewage discharges before they reach the U.S., protecting the public health, environment, and well-
being of our border communities. Mexico is required to match EPA's investments in Mexican-side projects at least
dollar for dollar. Treating raw sewage before it reaches U.S. waters is the most technically feasible and financially
viable option to prevent transboundary contamination.
Program Accomplishments
From 2003 through fiscal year 2017 (FY17), the BWIP funded 128 projects; 108 of those projects have completed
construction. Working closely with U.S. and Mexican federal, state, and local partners, the program provided access
to safe drinking water to 70,000 homes and wastewater collection and treatment services to 673,000 homes for the
first time. From the program's inception through FY17, the program has developed the capacity to treat
approximately 280 million gallons per day of raw wastewater in the border area, improving the quality of surface and
groundwater along the border.
In FY17, EPA conducted a new project application
and prioritization cycle for BWIP funding in close
coordination with the North American
Development Bank (NADB). EPA evaluated and
ranked these projects based on a variety of criteria,
including environmental and human health factors,
degree of U.S. benefit, and EPA Regional priorities.
The FY17 priority list contains 61 eligible drinking
water and wastewater projects with a total
estimated construction cost of $296 million that
address public health and environmental
conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sonora
3 projects
3 projects
$16.62 Million
$12.25 Million
Chihuahua
7 projects
$42.40 Million
Baja California
10 projects
$58.05 Million
Tamaulipas
17 projects
$43.93 Million
Header Photo: EPA Region 6
Figure 2: FY17 Prioritization break down by U.S. and Mexican neighboring states in U.S. Dollars

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Building technical and managerial capacity at Sunland
Park, New Mexico through partnerships
The construction of a new wastewater treatment plant in
Sunland Park, a small and disadvantaged community in New
Mexico, started in August 2017. Camino Real Regional Utility
Authority (CRRUA), the local wastewater utility, struggled with
inadequate and aging infrastructure, environmental compliance
challenges, and lack of managerial capacity and resources. For
close to two years, EPA, the New Mexico Environmental
Department (NMED) and NADB, worked closely with CRRUA to
implement a capacity building plan to ensure CRRUA could
effectively manage a new wastewater treatment plant. EPA
provided more than $85,000 to implement the plan and the
technical assistance necessary to complete all pre-construction
activities. EPA and NMED also funded the construction of the
$12.7 million treatment plant. EPA contributed $9 million and
NMED provided the additional $3.7 million in state funding. The treatment plant will improve access to sustainable
wastewater treatment services to approximately 6,438 residents of Sunland Park and Santa Teresa and will greatly
reduce the risks of untreated or inadequately treated wastewater discharges.
CRRUA's board chair, Josh Orozco, stressed the importance of finally being able to provide adequate wastewater
treatment capacity in the community. At the July 11, 2017 groundbreaking ceremony, Mr. Orozco said this new
plant "will not only allow more homes and more businesses to be helped, but will also improve the health of our
community."
Protecting the Tijuana River Watershed from transboundary contamination
The Tijuana River originates in Baja California, Mexico, crosses the U.S.-Mexico Border in San Ysidro, California, and
empties into the ocean just south of Imperial Beach, California. Discharges of raw and poorly treated sewage in
Tijuana can impact the economy, health, and environment of U.S. communities like Imperial Beach and Chula Vista
in San Diego County. A BWIP multi-phase effort is underway
to repair some of the deteriorating wastewater collectors.
These collectors carry sewage from households to the
Tijuana wastewater treatment plant. The repair of these
collectors will help prevent a catastrophic collapse that could
result in hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage
flowing into the U.S. and onto San Diego County
beaches. Through the EPA partnership with CONAGUA, the
Mexican water agency, EPA contributed $3 million and
Mexico $4 million for the repair of more than 6 miles of
collectors. A second phase for the construction of 2.5 miles
Photo 2: Repair of a broken wastewater collector in Tijuana of additional sewage lines is underway. The estimated cost
(photo courtesy Construction Management company, Grupo of this project is $3 million with a projected EPA contribution
Integral de Servicios Noroeste S.A. de C.V., Arq. Luis Zaragoza) of $1.4 million.
For more information about this program, please contact us at:
EPA Document #830F18005
United States Environmental Protection Agency
June 2018
Office of Water

Office of Wastewater Management

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (Mail Code 4204M), Washington, DC 20460

https://www.epa.gov/small-and-rural-wastewater-systems/us-mexico-border-water-infrastructure-grant-program

Photo 1: Construction activities for the new Sunland Park
treatment Plant: (photo courtesy EPA Region 6)

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