Groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of two wastewater sewer mains in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas

• These works are part of a Comprehensive Wastewater Collection and Treatment Project that will benefit more than 400,000 residents.

Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas — Today, the North American Development Bank (NADBank) along with 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) held groundbreaking ceremonies for the rehabilitation of two sewer mains that are part of the Comprehensive Wastewater Collection and Treatment Project. These specific works will rehabilitate the Colector Ribereño and the Colector Donato Guerra. NADBank is providing $8 million dollars in grants from the Bank's Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  

Nuevo Laredo Mayor Carmen Lilia Canturosas, NADBank Chief Environmental Officer Salvador Lopez, Tamaulipas Secretary of Water Resources for Social Development Raul Quiroga Alvarez, CONAGUA’s Regional Director of the Río Grande watershed, Luis Carlos Alatorre, and representatives from COMAPA participated in the event.   

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 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.

“NADBank is proud to be part of this vital undertaking for the citywide rehabilitation of Nuevo Laredo’s wastewater system,” stated NADBank's Chief Environmental Officer Salvador López Córdova. “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.”

The total project cost amounts to MX$1,398.4 million (~US$81.2 million), financed through a successful combination of BEIF funds, a commercial loan of up to MX$120 million (US$6 million) and Mexican federal, state, and local funds of MX$904.4 million (~US$53,2 million) representing 64.7% of the total project cost. The International Boundary Water Commission also participated with part of the financing. 

Work to rehabilitate the wastewater collection system began in 2019 with investments from the municipal government and federal funding through Conagua. 

For several years, NADBank has worked closely with the City and COMAPA in structuring the investment and financing plan for this project, 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.