Overview
- WIFA advanced four of 17 public‑private proposals on Nov. 19 with 9–0 votes, moving them to predevelopment evaluation and potential investment.
- Selected concepts include desalination in Baja California, Southern California, or the Gulf of California with exchanges for Arizona’s Colorado River water.
- The teams include an Acciona‑Fengate multi‑pronged package and three EPCOR‑led projects spanning desalination, Delta groundwater storage, and potable reuse for Tijuana.
- Preliminary yield ranges span roughly 10,000 to 946,000 acre‑feet per year across proposals, with major outputs targeted within 10 to 15 years.
- Arizona has just over $300 million available after earlier cuts to a $1 billion plan, environmental and tribal advocates flagged cost, brine and transparency concerns, and the board rejected the Cadiz groundwater scheme.