El Novillo Dam Construction Starts to Boost La Paz Water Supply

Mexico has launched construction of the El Novillo dam in La Paz, Baja California Sur, a strategic water-infrastructure project that authorities say will benefit more than 250,000 residents by adding a new, reliable source of potable water for the state capital. 

The project is backed by an estimated MX$2.4 billion (US$131.91 million) investment to be deployed between 2025 and 2027. Federal and local authorities say the works will incorporate 53L/s into La Paz’s water system and generate 700 direct jobs and 1,400 indirect jobs during construction.

According to CONAGUA-linked project details carried by local outlets, El Novillo’s dam wall is planned at 44m high and 389m long, and the overall package includes a potabilization plant sized for the same 53L/s output.

State authorities emphasize that El Novillo is not a standalone structure, but part of a broader system upgrade for La Paz. In addition to the dam, the plan includes a 15km aqueduct to convey water to the city, 22 elevated storage tanks, and distribution measures such as sectorization and micrometric metering to improve efficiency and reduce losses.

Governor of Baja California Sur Víctor Castro, describes El Novillo as a landmark investment for the state’s water security, noting that La Paz has not seen a hydraulic work of comparable scale in decades.

El Novillo is also framed within the federal government’s broader water portfolio, which combines new supply projects with a push to tighten oversight of water concessions. In a separate national update, the Sheinbaum administration presented a pipeline of 17 strategic water projects with a multi-decade planning horizon and linked the agenda to a broader effort to “regularize” concession titles and recover water volumes for priority uses, reports Mexico Business News.

In parallel, CONAGUA has outlined a national program of 37 strategic water projects for 2025 with MX$30.8 billion (US$1.57 billion) in investment, as part of Plan México. That package includes a longer-term funding envelope of over MX$186 billion for water initiatives and assigns MX$123 billion through 2030 for priority major works, within which El Novillo is listed among high-impact projects.

Sheinbaum says that these efforts involve federal, state, and municipal resources. They include a     National Irrigation Modernization Program that will modernize 17 Irrigation Districts across several states, including Michoacan, Sonora, and Tamaulipas. Other projects include the Agua Saludable para La Laguna program (Coahuila), Zacualpan II Aqueduct Rehabilitation (Colima), Tunal II Dam (Durango), and Solis-Leon Aqueduct (Guanajuato). The project will also enhance water supply, sanitation, and flood protection works in Acapulco (Guerrero), Paso Ancho Dam (Oaxaca), Las Escobas Dam (San Luis Potosi), and Hermosillo Dam System (Sonora), among other works.