By Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona
The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona has advanced four water importation proposals into a study phase to bring new, reliable water into the State.
WIFA’s Board of Directors has selected Acciona-Fengate Water Augmentation Alliance and EPCOR Water Innovation Partners to further evaluate four water importation projects through its Long-Term Water Augmentation Fund program.
As part of WIFA’s water augmentation program, 17 teams submitted their qualifications for developing new, resilient water supplies for Arizona. Following the qualification process, six water importation proposals were submitted and underwent extensive review by an evaluation team and WIFA’s LTWAF committees. Four of these proposals have been selected by WIFA’s Board of Directors to move forward into a study process for further evaluation.
“Today’s vote is not the end of the road, but a pivotal milestone. Big ideas, engineering and public input now come together to shape real water solutions for generations to come,” shared WIFA’s Chairman of the Board, Jonathan Lines.
Selected water importation projects and their teams are listed below:
Gulf of California Desalination and Binational Conveyance; Acciona-Fengate Water Augmentation Alliance,
Northern Gulf of California Desalination Facility; EPCOR Water Innovation Partners,
South Bay Potable Water Reuse; EPCOR Water Innovation Partners and
California Groundwater Storage and Recovery; EPCOR Water Innovation Partners.
These selections allow WIFA to contract with the project teams to evaluate the viability of all potential projects, including engineering, financial approaches, environmental impacts, permitting requirements, community input, and other critical factors. This process enables WIFA to review multiple potential projects simultaneously and select the most advantageous solution(s) to develop new, reliable water supplies for Arizona.
Moreover, these analyses will require extensive collaboration with other agencies and governments, water providers, potential water purchasers and other key stakeholders. This also includes public engagement with the communities across the region to inform the studies.
Details about the proposed projects and opportunities to engage can be found at https://ltwaf.azwifa.gov/importation. (Source)