After a long wait for locals of Los Cabos and visiting tourists, the local government has finally voted to expand the desalination plant. In the next 2 years, Los Cabos will be able to make clean water more accessible for everyone in the city.
If you visit Los Cabos, or especially live there, clean water was tougher to find than it should be. Locals have complained that drinking water should not be viewed as much of a luxury as it is. Clean drinking water should be a right for every citizen living there.
The population boom that Los Cabos has seen over the last 20 years has made the problem worse. Local citizens complained that clean water was being given priority to areas it shouldn’t have.
Stories circulated of golf courses on luxury resorts using the strained supply to water the course, or the hotels planting areas. Meanwhile, poor areas of the city were having to make do with very little or no water at all.
Tourists also noticed the water supply issue. Many tourists would visit Los Cabos and the running joke would be “don’t drink the water” unless it’s bottled. This reputation can only damage Los Cabos as a world class tourist destination when basics like water aren’t available. And in Los Cabos, if the tourist industry isn’t making money, the local economy suffers.
Details of the approved expansion
This week the State Congress authorized the city of Cabo San Lucas for expansion of its desalination plant. The votes were 21 in favor and 0 against. The desalination plant has been operating for 15 years, but with the population increase in that time period, the drinking water supply has been strained too thin.
The first goal of the project is to add 400 liters of clean drinking water per second within 2 years. By the end of the project authorities believe it’s possible to have 1,350 liters of drinking water per second available. However, that goal is more than a decade down the road. The estimated cost of the project stands at just under 100 thousand dollars.
Arguments for expansion
One of the main arguments for expansion of the plant is the population increase of Los Cabos. The area demands larger volumes of water to satisfy the needs of commercial, domestic, industrial and government use. With this new expansion over 200,000 inhabitants of Los Cabos will be served, including tourism and real estate developments.
Another argument for expansion is the realization that desalination of seawater is the only workable option available. The desalination plant can be very profitable and does not hurt the environment. Also, studies have shown that the existing aquifers are being overused and are being intruded by too much seawater.
Improved quality of life for citizens and tourists
It’s not surprising that the State Congress voted unanimously for this project. Clean drinking water that is readily available to everyone in Los Cabos is a must for a city to move forward. For citizens in every corner of Los Cabos, this will improve their day-to-day life.
Tourists will also benefit when they visit the area. Not only will they have access to clean water with everything that they do, but it will be one less negative to visiting.
For the city itself, this is a step forward to continuing to become a world class destination for tourists. Visitors want to take in all that a destination has to offer, whether that be high end entertainment like boating trips, or basic necessities like drinking water.
