Why an Arizona desalination plant has been idle for 30 years
By volume, the Yuma Desalting Plant is one of the largest in the United States. Completed in 1992, the plant is owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation with the capacity to filter 73 million gallons of water per day. It’s only been used twice. To understand why you have to go back to 1944. In February of that year, the U.S. and Mexico signed a treaty that dictated Mexico was entitled to 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water since that is where it actually ends. Mike Norris, manager of the USBR Yuma Area Office said over the years as agriculture increased in the Yuma area, so did overly salty return flows or brackish water.
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