U.S. Water News Online
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Environmentalists and water officials have announced a plan to get a desalination plant near Yuma up and running again without hurting a valuable marsh in Mexico's Colorado River Delta.
The 60-acre plant, which originally cost some $250 million, has been bone dry for over a decade.
But persistent drought has led many water users in the United States to advocate bringing the plant back to life so that Lake Mead won't be further drained to meet treaty obligations with Mexico. However, doing so threatens to destroy a 40,000-acre Colorado River delta -- the Cienega de Santa Clara -- since its water supply would likely be slashed.
Biologists say the cienega -- declared a biosphere reserve by Mexico in 1993 -- has become a vital stopover for birds traveling the "Pacific Flyway." It provides habitat for more than 95 bird species, including the endangered Yuma clapper rail.
A 1944 treaty requires the United States to send Mexico about 10 percent of the Colorado's average flow.
The plant was built between 1975 and 1992 to meet that obligation. Its design uses reverse osmosis to treat brackish water flowing off Arizona's Wellton-Mohawk farming district. It then returns the cleaner water to the Colorado and sends the reject stream of brine to Mexico in a canal parallel to the river.
The new plan, which needs state and federal approval, calls for pumping groundwater from waterlogged areas near Yuma to provide an alternate supply to the delta. It also calls for using the desalination plant to provide water to cities and businesses on either side of the border.
The plan was drafted by four conservation groups as well as water officials from the Central Arizona Project, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, city of Yuma and Bureau of Reclamation.
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