Water system needs assessment initiated in Piedras Negras, Coahuila
(Press Release) Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. – A study to support the development of a capital improvement plan for the Piedras Negras water utility, Sistema Municipal de Agua y Saneamiento (SIMAS), was launched in a meeting with Juan Carlos Ayub, the head of the Coahuila State Water Commission; Arturo Garza Jiménez, general manager of SIMAS; and representatives of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADB).
The study, which is expected to be completed by December 2015, will cost an estimated US$99,007 and will be funded with a grant from the joint BECC-NADB Technical Assistance Program.
The study is intended to provide a general assessment of the current water and wastewater systems, which will serve as the basis for the development of a plan to improve efficiencies and investments in SIMAS, by strategically programming procedures and actions to improve water and wastewater services in a framework of technical, financial and environmental self-sufficiency.
The general scope of the study includes:
· Developing a series of technical, commercial and financial indicators.
· Analyzing the utility’s potential for expanding and improving water and wastewater services.
· Developing projections of the technical and financial indicators necessary to achieve optimal service.
· Developing a technical-financial model to serve as a 20-year planning and projection tool.
In 2013, BECC funded an energy audit for SIMAS that identified a series of problems and deficiencies in the electrical facilities. Based on the audit recommendations, BECC and NADB are currently supporting a study to improve the energy efficiency of the headworks and transmission lines to the water plants, revise the classification of electrical rates, replace pumping equipment and install variable frequency drives.
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BECC is an international organization established by the Governments of the United States and Mexico to preserve, protect and enhance human health and the environment of the U.S.-Mexico border region, by strengthening cooperation among interested parties and supporting sustainable projects through a transparent, bi-national certification process in close coordination with NADB; federal, state and local agencies; the private sector; and civil society. For more information, visit www.becc.org.
NADB is a financial institution established and capitalized in equal parts by the United States and Mexico for the purpose of financing environmental infrastructure projects along their common border. As a pioneer institution in its field, the Bank is working to develop environmentally and financially sustainable projects with broad community support in a framework of close cooperation and coordination between Mexico and the United States. For more information, visit www.nadb.org.
