The Los Cabos municipal government appointed Arturo Sandoval as acting director of OOMSAPAS (the municipal agency for drinking water, sewage, and sanitation) on May 18, replacing outgoing director Ramón Rubio Apodaca. Municipal Secretary Alberto Rentería Santana called the leadership change a “refresh” aimed at improving water service delivery across the region.
Rubio Apodaca will move to a federal liaison role within the municipal government. Sandoval is expected to soon deliver a public progress report on two critical desalination projects in Cabo San Lucas.
Cabo San Lucas Faces the Worst of the Water Crisis
Officials acknowledged that the water shortage is concentrated in Cabo San Lucas, while San José del Cabo is in significantly better shape. The gap between the two cities has long frustrated Cabo San Lucas residents, who routinely experience days without municipal water service. Some neighborhoods in the city have historically gone up to two weeks without supply from the municipal system.
To bridge the gap, OOMSAPAS is dispatching water trucks from two dedicated wells in El Tule, a community north of San José del Cabo, to the hardest-hit Cabo San Lucas neighborhoods. Officials clarified that those wells operate independently and do not draw from the main municipal water network.
Desalination Plant Progress Remains Key
The most closely watched infrastructure projects in Los Cabos are two desalination plants. Desalination Plant #1, the existing facility operated by OOMSAPAS on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, was handed over to the new administration running at only 60 to 65 liters per second. Officials say output is expected to roughly double in the near term, though no specific timeline was given.
Desalination Plant #2, still under construction, has no confirmed opening date. Once completed, it is projected to produce around 250 liters per second. That would represent a major increase for a city where the existing aquifers have been overdrawn and intruded by seawater for years. Los Cabos sits in one of the most arid zones on the Baja California peninsula, and rapid growth in tourism and residential development has outpaced water infrastructure for over a decade.
The municipal government has also required major new developments to install their own desalination and wastewater treatment systems, a policy adopted in recent years as natural water sources proved insufficient.
Sandoval’s first public report on the status of both plants is expected in the coming weeks, according to Colectivo Pericú, which first reported the leadership change.