Arizona is investing nearly $8.5 million on a study of a seawater desalination project in Mexico, the second such Gulf of California proposal that the state’s water augmentation authority has agreed to investigate this year. The state Water Infrastructure Finance Authority board approved funds for the feasibility study at an Oct. 5 special meeting. The board also approved $5.7 million for study of option to purify water for reuse in Mexico, potentially to include treatment of water for use in Tijuana, Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado. All of the projects would lead to Arizona helping produce water for Mexico in exchange for some of that country’s Colorado River water, though the desalination plant may also include an option to pipe water north.

Other Colorado River management news:

• Mexico Business News: WIFA Advances northern Gulf of California desalination project
• The Christian Science Monitor: Low water levels, high demand force a reckoning for the Colorado River
• Legis1: Colorado River framework faces gap between law and water supply
• Big Pivots: Blog: How a century-old pricing system has emptied the Colorado River
• Congressional Research Service: Report: Management of the Colorado River: Water allocations, drought, and the federal role