In July 2018, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the first municipal-scale seawater desalination plant in the Mexican state of Baja California had started up in Ensenada. The reverse osmosis facility delivered about 21,600 m³/day (5.7 million gallons) to city customers and was designed for a later doubling of output. It cost US$55.81 million; GS Inima Environment built it under a 20-year operating contract. Loans from the North American Development Bank covered more than half. The city of 390,000 ended its water rationing.
The report showed how a port city that drew little from the Colorado River and relied almost entirely on groundwater secured its supply through a privately built and operated plant with mixed financing.
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune