In response to the water crisis threatening Baja California Sur, the mayor of Comondú, Roberto Pantoja Castro, announced that a project is currently underway to build the largest desalination plant in Latin America in his municipality.
Roberto Pantoja explained that the project would be a private undertaking, with an initial investment of $200 million, and that, he assured, it would be supervised by the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur (UABCS).
“I’d like to tell you about another very ambitious project coming up. It’s a private project, but one that will undoubtedly transform Comondú,” he stated. He detailed that this desalination plant will be located in the Matancitas ejido, near the community of Adolfo López Mateos.
If it meets all sustainability requirements and the project is approved, this plant would produce more than 5,000 liters per second (LPS) of potable water, a figure he described as “incredible.”
“Due to an agreement with the City Council, they would be supplying us with all the water needed by Ciudad Constitución, Ciudad Insurgentes, and Puerto Adolfo López Mateos. In the future, this plant could even supply the city of La Paz,” he stated.
He clarified that, although it is a private investment, it will be overseen by all three levels of government to guarantee its viability and compliance with the law.
According to the mayor, the developers have already acquired the land for construction and are currently in the environmental impact permit application phase.
In contrast, academics and researchers from the Citizens’ Front in Defense of Water and Life (Freciudav) have indicated that the use of desalination plants should be the last resort for a community to obtain water, primarily due to the pollution generated by their waste in the sea.
They argue that these types of projects end up being a business, since they are granted to companies that end up selling the water to the municipalities for years, and sometimes for decades.
Juan Ángel Trasviña, representative of Freciudav, has stressed that there are several options to avoid resorting to a desalination plant, such as repairing the water network of the municipalities and treating wastewater, which costs around 15% of what desalination involves.
Source: oem
