A processing plant designed to remove the salt from seawater in the Sea of Cortez off the Mexican coastline before that seawater is transported to the metro Tucson area is the subject of a new study released by Pima County officials.
Conducted by the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department, the study estimates that the new plant will cost around $4.1 billion to build, a cost that will include construction of the nearly 200 miles of underground pipeline needed to ship the water.
The project is animated by projections showing that Pima County’s current 1 million population is expected to reach the 1.5 million mark by the end of the century and will be in need of new water sources.
Already water coming from the Central Arizona Projects, which draws on the Colorado River, is showing its limitations, with the Bureau of Reclamation recently announcing that the supply will be reduced by about a third next year.
Further cuts may be expected in 2023, sources say.
Pima County officials contend that now is the time to give serious consideration to the desalination plant and pipeline, as it would most likely take anywhere from 20 to 40 years for the project to go through what is expected to be a complicated approval process.
Where the funding for the project would come from, meanwhile, currently remains a question mark. Suggestions have been made that the construction could be done through a public/private partnership.
At the same time, the Wastewater Reclamation Department study said that the average homeowner’s monthly water bill could see a $60 to $90 increase in order to underwrite the project.
By Garry Boulard
