The U.S. State Department has approved a cross-border pipe that would carry water from a desalination plant in Mexico into San Diego, California’s Otay Water District.
“The Otay Mesa Conveyance and Disinfection System Project will be the first cross-border project of its kind to import water to the U.S. from Mexico,” according to the district’s website. The State Department approved the permit for the water line on May 16. The State Department permit covers the length of pipe from the border to the district.
The District has applied to the California Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water for a permit that would ensure the Mexican water pumped in “meets the same water quality drinking standards as water from regional lakes, from the Claude ‘Bud’ Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, and from the City of San Diego’s Pure Water Program.”
Otay Water District General Manager Mark Watton said, “Although there are still several hurdles to overcome, receiving the presidential permit for this project is a giant leap for the District and its customers so we have more control over our local water supply.”
Watton has pointed out that there are electric lines, a gas pipeline and an airport bridge that span the U.S. southern border, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. He went on to call the installation of a water line “only natural.” He also stated that that would make Otay the first district in the U.S. to import water from Mexico.
Water from the proposed desalination plant in Mexico could provide up to two-thirds of the water in the Otay District’s system by 2024, according to the district. By that time, 10 to 30 percent of the 50 million gallons of water produced at the plant could flow to California’s Otay District.
The Rosarito Beach Desalination Plant has yet to be built. The Tribune reported the assurance of Baja California authorities that phase 1 of the plant will be completed in 2019 and phase 2 in 2024. At a cost of $463 million, it is planned to be the largest in the Western Hemisphere, and twice the size of San Diego County’s desalination plant in Carlsbad.
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