Board Document BD 2007-XX August 29, 2007 Border Environment Cooperation Commission Wastewater Collection Project in Agua Prieta, Sonora. 1. General Criteria 1.a Project Type The project consists of improving and expanding the wastewater collection system for the community of Agua Prieta, in the municipality of Agua Prieta, Sonora. This project belongs to BECC's Wastewater Treatment and Domestic Water and Wastewater Hookups Sectors. 1.b Project Categories The project belongs to the category of Community Environmental Infrastructure Projects – Community-wide Impact. The project will improve wastewater collection quality service in the community of Agua Prieta resulting in a positive impact to this community. 1.c Project Location and Community Profile The State of Sonora is located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Mexico, adjacent to the United States of America. Agua Prieta, Sonora is located in the northeastern part of the State of Sonora and neighbors the City of Douglas, Arizona, USA. About 47% of the population in Agua Prieta is employed in maquilas, commerce or by rendering services. The rest of the population is employed in agricultural related activities. The following figure shows the geographic location of Agua Prieta. 1 Board Document BD 2007-XX BECC Certification Document Agua Prieta, Sonora Demographics Population projections prepared during the development of the Final Design of the Wastewater Collection System1 for Agua Prieta, Sonora were based on census data obtained by the National Institute for Statistics, Geography, and Information (INEGI 2000 for its initial in Spanish) and the National Population Council (CONAPO for its initial in Spanish). The current population (2007) has been estimated to be 70,523 inhabitants and estimations for the year 2027 forecast were 79,143 inhabitants. Water System The community has 98% water infrastructure and service coverage. The water supply is obtained from 12 water wells that produce approximately 320 lps. The system has 19,331 connections and macro-metering in 80% of its sources. The micro-metering coverage is 42.5%. Wastewater Collection System Agua Prieta has 75% sanitary wastewater collection coverage. The system consists of sewer pipes, manholes, and mains and it discharges to a wastewater treatment facility. Residents who are not connected to the wastewater collection system dispose of their wastewater in latrines and cesspools, with the associated public health and groundwater contamination risks. Wastewater Treatment Wastewater treatment is accomplished through the use of a facultative stabilization lagoon system located southeast of the community. The wastewater treatment plant's design capacity is 200 lps. Approximately 86% of the treated effluent is reclaimed and reused at the local power plant, while the remaining wastewater is disposed of in the "Agua Prieta" creek. Pavement and Solid Waste The community of Agua Prieta has a solid waste collection coverage of 100% and counts with a sanitary landfill. According to the Department of Public Works of Agua prieta, the pavement coverage is of 20%. 1.d Legal Authority The project sponsor is the local water and wastewater utility (Organismo Operador Municipal de Agua Potable, Alcantarillado y Saneamiento de Agua Prieta, OOMAPASAP). The legal authority of OOMAPASAP is established in the Agreement that set up OOMAPASAP, which was published in the Government of the State of Sonora's Official Bulletin (May 10, 2004 Official Bulletin issue). OOMAPASAP is authorized to provide water and wastewater collection services to the community, including the design and construction of urban infrastructure projects to help enhance the provision of these types of services to Agua Prieta. The project falls within the scope of agreements targeted at improving the environment and the quality of life of border residents, which have been signed by Mexico and the United States. The United States and Mexico have signed six major bilateral agreements related to air, water, land protection, and pollution control issues. These include: • 1889 International Boundary Convention 1 “Expansion of the Wastewater Collection System in Agua Prieta, Sonora." Final Design developed by Éxito, S.A. de C.V. OOMAPASAP. July 2007. 2 Board Document BD 2007-XX BECC Certification Document Agua Prieta, Sonora • 1944 Water Treaty • 1983 La Paz Agreement, or Border Environment Agreement • 1990 Integrated Border Environmental Plan (IBEP) • 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) • Border 2012 Program The project complies with the spirit of all these agreements, and all of them have been considered since the onset of the project. 1.e Project Summary Project Description The project consists of the expansion of the wastewater collection system in the southeast region of the community. The project cost is $7.0 million pesos. The project proposes the expansion of the wastewater collection system from 75% to 80% of wastewater collection infrastructure, and consists of the following: • 12,814 m of 20 cm diameter PVC piping. • 164 manholes. • 778 new hookups. The collected wastewater in the expanded wastewater system area will be discharged to the existing wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure. The capital cost of the project includes the provision and installation of domestic hookups to the wastewater collection system. It is estimated that the wastewater collection system collects 145 lps, by implementing the project the collected flow will increase to 154 lps. Wastewater is currently treated in a facultative lagoons system in series with 200 lps design capacity. Approximately 125 lps of the treated effluent is conveyed to the Electric Utility (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE) facilities to be reused; the rest is disposed of in the Agua Prieta Creek. To ensure that water discharged into the Agua Prieta Creek meets the quality parameters set forth by Mexican Official Standard, NOM-001-SEMARNAT-1996, which establishes the maximum permissible limits for contaminants in wastewater discharged to national waters and properties, OOMAPASAP will simultaneously construct necessary projects to directly send off 125 lps of untreated wastewater to the CFE facility and only the excess wastewater will be treated at the treatment plant (approximately 29 lps). The following figure shows a schematic of the site for the wastewater collection system improvements project. 3 Board Document BD 2007-XX BECC Certification Document Agua Prieta, Sonora Project Site. Project Justification The expansion of the wastewater collection system will help to significantly reduce the contamination resulting from untreated wastewater discharges, thus reducing the potential for human contact with raw wastewater and organisms that are vectors for diseases. It will also reduce the potential for groundwater and surface water contamination by eliminating the use of cesspools and latrines. 125 lps of wastewater flow will be conveyed to the Electric Utility (CFE) for reuse, while the rest will be treated by the lagoon system. The effluent from the wastewater treatment plant will be discharged to the Agua Prieta Creek. This project was characterized as Category 1 during the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Priorization Process FY 05/06 due to the lack of wastewater collection infrastructure in the community. Important Issues for Certification: The project falls within the BECC's priority sectors and complies with General Criteria. Pending Issues: None. 4 Board Document BD 2007-XX BECC Certification Document Agua Prieta, Sonora 2. Human Health and Environment 2.a Compliance with Applicable Environmental and Cultural Resource Laws and Regulations The development of the proposed works will follow the guidelines established by the National Water Commission (Comisión Nacional del Agua, CONAGUA) for the design and construction of this type of structures. Additionally, the works to be developed are not expected to impact protected areas or ecological reserves. During the implementation of the project, the OOMAPASAP will oversee the works for conformance with the aforesaid guidelines. Additionally, the project complies with applicable Official Mexican Standards including: Official Mexican Standard NOM-002-SEMARNAT-1996, which establishes the maximum permissible levels for contaminants in wastewater discharges to urban or municipal wastewater collection systems. Wastewater collected by the expansion of the wastewater collection system will be treated in the stabilization lagoon system. The effluent from the wastewater treatment plant will comply with standards set by the Official Mexican Standard NON-001-SEMARNAT-1996 which established final discharge parameters to the Agua Prieta Creek. Official Communication No. CIS/DIR.352/007 of August 13, 2007 from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, INAH), which states that there is no objection for the development of this project in the Agua Prieta area, inasmuch as there is no evidence of archeological or historical monuments or remains in the site. Based on the above, no impacts on cultural resources are anticipated as a result of the project. 2.b Human Health and Environmental Impacts Human Health Impacts Within the project area, residents who lack wastewater collection dispose of their wastewater using latrines and cesspools with the risk of contaminating the ground and aquifer, which is the current source of water for the city. The lack of wastewater collection in