Arizona’s water finance agency approves first-phase study of a Sacyr-led desalination plant in Mexico

According to IndustriAmbiente, the Board of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA), an agency of the Arizona state government, has approved the first phase of the evaluation study for the Northern Gulf of California Desalination Plant. The proposal is led by Sacyr, with Arcadis U.S., Inc. and Plenary Americas US Holdings Inc. The approval is limited to this analysis stage: it is not a decision on building the project or on any future funding requests, which WIFA will assess separately in the light of the results.

The scheme under study has several parts. A new desalination plant in Baja California (Mexico) and a pipeline would carry the water to the Morelos Dam, on the US–Mexico border, where it would enter the Colorado River system for use in Mexico. In exchange, part of Mexico’s Colorado River allocation could go to Arizona. Initial estimates place between 2034 and 2039 an increase in Arizona’s supply of up to 500,000 acre-feet a year (around 1.7 million m³ a day, according to IndustriAmbiente).

In this phase, Sacyr will carry out preliminary studies to check whether the proposal is viable in technical, financial, environmental, cultural and regulatory terms. The aim is to reduce uncertainty and give WIFA information for the next decisions in an evaluation process that moves in phases. According to IndustriAmbiente, the planned split of roles is as follows: Arcadis as lead engineering firm; Sacyr in charge of construction and of operation and maintenance; and Plenary Americas, together with Sacyr, on the financial development.

Arizona is going through a prolonged drought that has increased pressure on its traditional water sources, and the state is looking at long-term alternatives to diversify its resources over the coming decades. WIFA provides financial support for solutions that strengthen the state’s water security, and its evaluation process examines proposals that could provide new water sources.

Sources: IndustriAmbiente, 5 October 2026, and WIFA, water importation programme page (project description). Image: the coast at San Felipe (Baja California, Mexico), in the northern Gulf of California. rey perezoso, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).