NADBank Approves US$400 Million Water Resiliency Fund for Border

The North American Development Bank (NADBank) announced the creation of the Water Resiliency Fund (WRF), a new financing mechanism that will provide up to US$400 million for priority infrastructure projects aimed at conserving and diversifying water supply sources in the US-Mexico border region. 

“We have worked in close collaboration with our Board members and actively engaged officials from border states in both the United States and Mexico, along with local communities, irrigation districts, and other key stakeholders to establish the new Water Resiliency Fund. This initiative is designed to catalyze investment in strategic infrastructure that improves the region’s water resilience through more efficient usage and diversification of sources, all of which will bolster our ability to withstand droughts and extreme weather events,” says John Beckham, Managing Director, NADBank.

Beckham says that, through the WRF, NADBank will allocate up to US$100 million from retained earnings over the next five years to provide concessional financing, along with US$300 million in low-interest loans from its loan program. NADBank may also complement these instruments with market-rate financing to further expand the reach and impact of available resources.

“The Water Resiliency Fund is an instrument that will allow us to implement water infrastructure projects on both sides of the border, which will undoubtedly help achieve more efficient water use, particularly among major users such as irrigation districts and municipal water systems, which will support efforts to address the deficit we have in the Rio Grande Basin,” says Raul Quiroga, Minister of the Water Resources for Social Development from the State of Tamaulipas. Quiroga adds that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration committed to invest MX$7.164 billion to benefit border irrigation districts 025 Bajo Rio Bravo and 026 Bajo Rio San Juan.