China, Nuevo León, September 13, 2023.- While leading the commissioning of the “El Cuchillo II” aqueduct that will increase the water supply for 5.4 million inhabitants of the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador highlighted that the sum of wills made this work possible, for which he acknowledged construction workers, technical specialists, federal and state authorities, as well as businessmen.
The President affirmed that the decision to work in coordination with the government of Nuevo León and to divide the tasks of the 90 km that the work entailed in stretches of nine km on average was the right one.
“It was decided that they had to be companies from Nuevo León, from Monterrey, because this work has a social dimension. And it is not just any work for any company, it is not just the economic, financial end, the profit, the lawful gain, but to serve society; more so where we live, in the state where we were born, the city where we were born.”
After highlighting the role of the companies that also helped to guarantee the inputs, he added that the military engineers fulfilled the outstanding function of conducting the works to guarantee delivery on time and according to the budget, which today is exercised without corruption, so he recalled the importance of the participation of companies that generate reasonable profits:
“There has to be mixed economy, there cannot be statism;the initiative of civil society cannot be suffocated, we have to complement each other, not opt for extremes, that is, all to the market or all to the State, no, we have to look for solutions like this, work together.”
Finally, he made a special acknowledgement to Governor Samuel García Sepúlveda:
“As is well known, we belong to different movements, but he has understood that we have to work together, beyond partisan or political, rather politicking flags; Samuel has understood that very well and that is why we have been able to move forward, it has not been hard for us to help as the people of Nuevo León deserve.”
Governor García Sepúlveda recalled that, thanks to the federal government, Nuevo León has two major projects: the “Libertad” dam and now the “El Cuchillo II” aqueduct, which was built in record time of one year after the severe water crisis:
“Federal and state government we agreed, we went in halves and today they are a reality for our entire state. Thanks to you, very soon twice as much water will reach the city from our largest dam, El Cuchillo Dam, which will calm Nuevo León’s crisis and guarantee, at least, the numbers show, the next 10 years.”
He highlighted the importance of acting in co-responsibility, so we must all take care of water, since there are no works, pipelines or pumps that can with a society that wastes water that hardly reaches a semi-desert region like this one.
The general director of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), Germán Martínez Santoyo, pointed out that this new infrastructure reduces the risk of repeating the water crisis of 2022 and allows a more efficient management of surface water sources, in case the levels of “La Boca” and “Cerro Prieto” dams decrease significantly.
After recalling that it takes seven to 10 days from the start-up of the work for the pipes to fill and the water to reach the distribution network, he stressed that, far from lowering our guard, it is essential to maintain responsible use in industry, the countryside and homes.
Also accompanying the President of the Republic were: the Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval González; the Secretary of the Interior, Luisa María Alcalde Luján; the General Director of the National Bank of Works and Services (BANOBRAS), Jorge Mendoza Sánchez; the General Director of Engineers of Sedena, Salvador Fernando Cervantes Loza; the manager of the El Cuchillo aqueduct, Camilo Martín Hernández Trejo; and the Deputy Director of Potable Water, Drainage and Sanitation of Conagua, Felipe Zataráin-Mendoza.
Also present were the general director of Monterrey Water and Drainage of the Nuevo León state government, Juan Ignacio Barragán Villarreal; the president of the Nuevo León Chamber of the Transformation Industry (CAINTRA), Máximo Vedoya Raimondi; and the general director of the Nuevo León Chamber of Commerce, Juan Pablo García Garza.
First stage of the “El Cuchillo II” aqueduct
This phase of the aqueduct was completed in record time, in order to start operating a pumping equipment in each of the five stations, which will supply 1,200 liters of water per second.
With a federal budget of six thousand 500 million pesos, CONAGU began construction of the aqueduct on October 1, 2022, with Sedena in charge of project management.
In turn, the government of Nuevo León has contributed resources of close to 5,701 million pesos for the acquisition of piping, pumps, valves, starters, boards, rights of way and electricity supply, in addition to developing works for the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
The main components of the project are:
- A pressurized aqueduct with a length of 90 km that was built in nine sections.
- 16 control structures, consisting of one unidirectional tank, four submergence tanks, six oscillation towers and five air chambers.
- Five pumping plants with six pumping units each.
To date, 87.7 percent of the overall physical progress has been recorded, which allowed the first stage of the infrastructure to be put into operation, with the participation of local companies in its construction.
TYT Newsroom
