BajaNomad - Mexicali--Tijuana Aqueduct

Mexicali--Tijuana Aqueduct

Baja Bernie - 3-16-2006 at 09:49 AM

At least read the last paragraph (it is a long story)

March 15, 2006

Economics, Labor and Commerce News

The Touch of King Midas Gets Bigger

Now rated by Forbes magazine as the world's third-richest
man with an estimated fortune of $30 billion-dollars,
Mexican businessman Carlos Slim often has been called King
Midas because of his wildly successful business endeavors.
Only Slim's buddy Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have more
dough, according to Forbes. The prime beneficiary of the
Mexican state's privatization of the public telephone
company Telmex back in 1990, Slim has made a fortune in
telecommunications, retail trade and cigarette
distribution, among other activities.

In this Mexican election year, Slim made his mark traveling
around the country and promoting his Chapultepec Pact for
economic development and political stability. The agreement
calls for increasing investment in education, healthcare,
job training, and infrastructure development. In short, an
infusion of money into under-funded sectors of the economy.
Mexico, Slim holds, is at a ripe juncture for an economic
leap catalyzed by a private-public partnership. "The
internal and external factors are favorable, perhaps never
like this in the history of Mexico," Slim said in a recent
Guadalajara meeting. "Let's not allow this opportunity to
pass."

Generally worded, the Chapultepec Pact is a declaration
which could attract people from across the political
spectrum. Slim has been successful in convincing other
prominent businessmen, politicians, union leaders,
intellectuals, and community leaders to sign on to his
movement. Chemist Mario Molina, Mexico's internationally-
known Nobel Laureate, is a Chapultepec supporter, as are
presidential candidates Roberto Madrazo and Felipe
Calderon. At a recent meeting in Chihuahua City, the
governors of the northern and border states of Durango,
Baja California, Chihuahua, and Coahuila signed the dotted
lines of the pact.

Presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador still
hasn't officially endorsed Chapultepec, but the candidate
of the center-left For the Good of All coalition has a long-
standing relationship with Slim. During the 2000-2005 Lopez
Obrador administration in Mexico City, Slim bankrolled much
of the renovation of the capital city's historic downtown.

During the last regional Chapultepec conference held in
Guadalajara this month, Slim was asked about Lopez
Obrador's absence from the pact. The billionaire said it
didn't matter whether someone signed or not as long as he
was in general agreement with the overall goals of
Chapultepec. Slim said he was confident business and
investment as usual would go on whoever was elected
president in 2006, a statement that departed from recent
comments by former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and
others warning of a Lopez Obrador victory as negative for
the political business climate.

Slim has criticized aspects of the economic model many
Latin Americans call neo-liberalism, saying not enough
emphasis has been placed on eradicating poverty, boosting
growth and cultivating human capital. Some analysts
caution, however, that one trend that could emerge from
Chapultepec is a greater reallocation of public pension
funds in development schemes that benefit private
interests.

According to Chihuahua journalist Luis Javier Valero
Flores, Chapultepec specifically urges "changing the law to
be able to add private and public savings to public
finances." One Slim critic is Guillermo Ortiz Martinez, the
governor of the central Bank of Mexico, who in recent
veiled comments lashed out against monopolists in the
private sector. Ortiz criticized Telmex's domination of the
fixed and cellular phone market, calling the company's
services "the most expensive in the world." Responding to
Ortiz, Slim said, "(Guillermo Ortiz) doesn't agree? If he
doesn't want to sign (Chapultepec), he doesn't have to
sign."

Seemingly unworried, Slim is moving ahead with various
projects that have significant ramifications for the coming
years. The magnate has capitalized a $9 million-dollar fund
to study the implementation of 109 priority public works
projects defined as key for breaking "the inertia of
underdevelopment." To carry out such projects, Slim has
founded a new company, Ideal, which is focusing on building
public works and infrastructure. This month, it was
announced that Ideal will build a new wastewater system in
the northern city of Saltillo, Coahuila. The plant is
scheduled for completion by September 2007.

Ideal is also hoping to land the contract for the expansion
of the Mexicali-Tijuana aqueduct. According to the federal
National Water Commission, the $111 million-dollar project
will provide water to 390,000 inhabitants of the Baja
California municipalities of Tecate, Tijuana and Playas de
Rosarito. Ideal will be publicly traded on the Mexico City
and New York City stock markets.

Sources: El Universal, March 10, 12 and 14, 2006.
Articles by Carlos Coria Rivas, Fernando Pedrero, Ulises
Zamarroni, and editorial staff. El Diario de Juarez, March
12, 2006. Articles by Luis Javier Valero Flores and
editorial staff. Frontera/EFE, March 9, 2006.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

Where is the water?????

Barry A. - 3-16-2006 at 10:13 AM

Since we (the USA) has been very stingy with the Colorado River Water for many, many years, and I do not see that changing significantly in the near future, where do they plan to get this "Agua" that supposedly will be flowing thru the aquaduct, east to west??? Mexicali, and the surrounding agricultural complex, has traditionally been short of water for years.

There must be an answer to my question, but I honestly don't know what it is. Anybody out there able to enlighten me?

Barry

bancoduo - 3-16-2006 at 10:33 AM

If you see the building going on in s-ca,nv,az. It will only grow worse. Golf anyone.

Where is the water????? - exactly the question

neilm - 3-16-2006 at 04:10 PM

Maybe Imperial Irrigation will sell to them, instead of San Diego.

Either way, the Salton Sea dries up. Get your $45k Salton City lots now!

Neil

bancoduo - 3-16-2006 at 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by neilm
Maybe Imperial Irrigation will sell to them, instead of San Diego.

Either way, the Salton Sea dries up. Get your $45k Salton City lots now!

Neil

Thats great. Sell farm land to feed people development on both sides of the border. Who needs food. China will fulfill our needs with edible plastic. :barf:

[Edited on 3-17-2006 by bancoduo]

Imperial Irrigation Water

MrBillM - 3-17-2006 at 10:06 AM

The Imperial Irrigation-San Diego water deal was brokered and sanctioned by the Federal Government so there would be no option to sell it to someone else.

No matter what happens, the Salton Sea is probably doomed, anyway. It won't have any effect on growth in that area which is now booming. The sea itself was never responsible for any significant growth. I pass through that area twice each month (once North, once South) on Hwy 86 and the number of new tract houses going up is amazing. There is talk that 200 thousand homes will eventually be built there. It is said that the Coachella Valley has run out of "affordable" housing. I expect to see Walmart there in a couple of years.

[Edited on 3-17-2006 by MrBillM]

MrBillM---------Salton Sea-----

Barry A. - 3-17-2006 at 10:12 AM

----------isn't the Salton Sea mostly supplied with water from the Imperial Valley Ag leach fields??? Won't that continue, regardless of what happens????

In other words, why is the Salton Sea doomed???? (not that I care if the stinky sea dies)

Yeah, you're right....

neilm - 3-17-2006 at 12:14 PM

The water deal is, IID takes 300,000 ac.ft. away from ag. in the Imperial Valley; sells it to San Diego so they can pee in it and dump it in the Pacific..... 300,000 ft that used to irrigate crops and then flow into the Sea. Not certain but I think it's a done deal.

The Sea is important for at least a couple of reasons - it's an important stop for migratory waterfowl - if you hunt ducks anywhere on the Pacific, you want a healthy Sea...... and if it dries up, a century worth of toxic chemicals will be in the dust storms...

Still doesn't answer the question, where does Mexicali get water to send to TJ in the new aquaduct?

Neil

Quote:

Originally posted by Barry A.
----------isn't the Salton Sea mostly supplied with water from the Imperial Valley Ag leach fields??? Won't that continue, regardless of what happens????

In other words, why is the Salton Sea doomed???? (not that I care if the stinky sea dies)

[Edited on 3-17-2006 by neilm]

How much water is that?

neilm - 3-17-2006 at 12:18 PM

390,000 people.... 100,000 ac.ft.?

Quote:

Originally posted by Baja Bernie

Ideal is also hoping to land the contract for the expansion
of the Mexicali-Tijuana aqueduct. According to the federal
National Water Commission, the $111 million-dollar project
will provide water to 390,000 inhabitants of the Baja
California municipalities of Tecate, Tijuana and Playas de
Rosarito. Ideal will be publicly traded on the Mexico City
and New York City stock markets.

Sources: El Universal, March 10, 12 and 14, 2006.
Articles by Carlos Coria Rivas, Fernando Pedrero, Ulises
Zamarroni, and editorial staff. El Diario de Juarez, March
12, 2006. Articles by Luis Javier Valero Flores and
editorial staff. Frontera/EFE, March 9, 2006.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

Salton Sea

MrBillM - 3-18-2006 at 10:50 AM

The majority of the water going into the Salton Sea is Irrigation runoff from both the Coachella and Imperial valleys. The problem with the leach-field runoff is the salinity. Without a supply of other fresh water, the saline content will rise to the point where sealife is impossible. Whether that's good, bad or indifferent depends on your point of view. The official Federal designation for the Salton Sea is that of a Sump rather than an inland lake. Although I spent many fun days at the Sea during the 60s and 70s, it is a truly foul place and I can't imagine that the funds (and water) to reverse that deterioration will ever be forthcoming.

As far as water from Mexicali goes, I can't imagine where that would come from, either. There seems to be a DEMAND in the Mexicali Valley that currently outstrips supply and that will be worsened once the Imperial Valley starts lining the Canals. The water that Imperial Irrigation is intending to sell to San Diego is that recovered from the lining project.

David K - 3-18-2006 at 11:24 AM

In the 60's my parents and I often went to the Salton Sea as a boater's and fisherman's paradise. My dad previously had been a competitor in the Salton Sea 500 motorboat race, racing for Mercury Outboard ... So, I recall going there to watch that race when I was really small...

We fished for corvina (imported from San Felipe) as I recall...

Anyway, my kids and I went to the Salton Sea a couple years ago as we were off roading nearby in Ocotillo Wells and I wanted to show them where I had been as a kid...

YECH!!! The smell, dead fish beach, what a disaster!!!

The sea is far too big to clean up, I would think... Since it was created on accident from a dam building blunder on the Colorado River a hundred years ago, I don't see any great amount of funds going into it.

Will it ever dry up? Laguna Salada did... but it probably isn't as deep... and isn't downstream of ag field irrigation. Calling the Sea a sump is a good description!

We used to fish & ski there in the 60's, too...

neilm - 3-18-2006 at 05:02 PM

Man, can it get rough fast in the afternoon!

Actually, millions have been spent already on the project, but billions will be needed. Have a look here:

http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/

If you're interested, click on 'why should I care'

Still don't know why you'd want to build an aqueduct from one dry place to another.

Neil

[Edited on 3-19-2006 by neilm]

ROUGH !

MrBillM - 3-18-2006 at 05:21 PM

Back in the early 70s, I was working at an old friend's Auto Electric Business in Indio. During the dog days of Summer when business in the afternoon was light, we'd close early, jump into his pickup towing his ski boat and blast out to the Salton Sea to ski until dark. We'd launch at the State Park off of Hwy 111. Invariably, when the wind would come up and the water got choppy, he'd want to go across to the Hwy 86 side to see if it was calmer on that side. We'd pound our way across. It NEVER was calmer, but the next time we'd do the same thing. The average depth of the Sea is only about 25 feet so any wind turns to serious chop.

Once in awhile, we'd stay so late that we'd jump into the truck and head back without showering. By the time we got back to Indio, we smelled like we'd fallen into a Septic Tank.

Back in the mid 80s, I bought a Hobie Cat and wanted to try it out before taking it to Baja. We drove down to the State Park in July and launched. Dead Fish Everywhere. My wife looked into the water and said she wasn't getting on to the Cat unless I promised not to dump it. We haven't been back since.