Loreto Bay, one of the most water-stressed communities on the Baja California Sur coast, will receive a new desalination plant after the federal government approved 50 million pesos (roughly $2.8 million USD) in funding for the project. The plant is designed to produce 20 liters per second of potable water, enough to serve the growing residential and tourist population in the Nopoló corridor south of Loreto’s historic center.
Loreto Has Struggled With Water Supply for Over a Decade
Loreto sits on the Sea of Cortez in one of the driest stretches of the Baja peninsula. Annual rainfall averages less than 150 millimeters. The town of roughly 20,000 permanent residents has long depended on a handful of underground wells that tap the Loreto and Nopoló aquifers, both of which CONAGUA, Mexico’s national water commission, has classified as overexploited.
The Loreto Bay development, a master-planned resort community near Nopoló built beginning in the mid-2000s, added hundreds of homes and a hotel to an area with almost no independent water infrastructure. From the start, water delivery was inconsistent. Residents reported frequent outages, low pressure, and brackish water during dry months. OOMSAPAS Loreto, the local municipal water utility, has operated with limited budgets and aging equipment.
By 2018, CONAGUA data showed the Nopoló aquifer’s extraction rate exceeded its natural recharge by roughly 30%. Several wells serving Loreto Bay saw rising salinity levels, a sign of seawater intrusion common in overdrawn coastal aquifers. The problem worsened during drought years in 2020 and 2021, when some Loreto Bay homeowners resorted to purchasing water from private tanker trucks, known locally as pipas, at costs ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 pesos ($85 to $170 USD) per delivery.
Desalination has been discussed as a solution for Loreto since at least 2015. A smaller reverse-osmosis unit was installed near the Loreto Bay development around 2017, but it operated intermittently due to maintenance issues and electricity costs. CFE, Mexico’s federal electric utility, charges commercial water-treatment operations higher industrial rates, which strained the local utility’s finances.
The 50 Million Peso Plant Will Serve Nopoló and Loreto Bay
The newly approved plant will use reverse-osmosis technology to convert seawater into potable water at a rate of 20 liters per second, or roughly 1.7 million liters per day. That volume is enough to supply approximately 4,000 to 5,000 households depending on consumption patterns. The project was approved through CONAGUA’s federal infrastructure program and will be managed by the Baja California Sur state water commission in coordination with OOMSAPAS Loreto.
Construction timelines have not been finalized, but state officials indicated the project could break ground in late 2025. The plant will be located near the coast south of Loreto’s urban core, with a pipeline connecting to existing distribution networks in Nopoló and Loreto Bay. Brine discharge, a byproduct of desalination that can harm marine ecosystems if improperly managed, will be subject to environmental review by SEMARNAT, Mexico’s environmental ministry.
The 50 million peso budget covers construction and initial equipment. Operating costs, including electricity and membrane replacement, will fall to the municipal utility. How OOMSAPAS Loreto plans to fund ongoing operations remains an open question. The utility’s current water tariffs are among the lowest in the state, and desalination plants typically cost three to five times more per liter than well extraction.
Property Owners in Loreto Bay Face Potential Rate Increases
If the plant operates as designed, it should reduce or eliminate the chronic shortages that have affected Loreto Bay homeowners for years. Reliable water access could also affect property values in the Nopoló corridor, where listings have sometimes included warnings about water availability.
But the cost of running a desalination plant will likely mean higher water bills. In Los Cabos, where OOMSAPAS (the local water utility) operates several desalination units, residential rates have climbed steadily since 2019. Loreto Bay residents, many of whom are Canadian and American retirees or part-time residents, should expect similar adjustments once the plant is online.
The plant would also reduce pressure on the Nopoló aquifer, which supports not only residential use but also irrigation for the Loreto Bay golf course and landscaping. CONAGUA has warned that continued overextraction risks permanent aquifer damage, including land subsidence and irreversible saltwater contamination.
State officials are expected to release a detailed construction timeline and environmental impact assessment before the end of 2025. The funding approval and project details were first reported by El Sudcaliforniano.