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Regional

• Earlier this year, United States-based Enron put the Latin American assets of its water subsidiary Azurix up for sale, including interests in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The move was understood to be part of Enron's exit plan for the water sector and the region. Subsequently, Enron has filed for protection from its creditors in the U.S. bankruptcy courts. The effect of this action on the sale of these assets is uncertain.

Argentina

• The Federal Water Resources Department has started tenders of rainwater catchment and flood control works, as part of a US$890mn water program. The projects that make up the water plan will take 2-3 years to be completed and are distributed among 12 of the country's provinces.
• Buenos Aires waterworks concessionaire Azurix BA has given notice to the province that it has withdrawn from its contract with the provincial government due to ongoing disputes with the province. The conflict involves a concession for which the concessionaire in 1999 paid US$438mn for the rights to serve 2.5 million people in 49 districts in the province with water and sewerage services for 30 years.
• Spanish company Aguas de Bilbao and Argentine engineering firm Electroingenieria have won an environmental recovery project for the Lake San Roque basin in Cordoba. The project, worth US$39.5mn, covers the construction of sewerage and wastewater infrastructure at various localities in the basin, and also a 10-year operating concession.
• Enohosa and local water utility Samsa called for the bids for a contract to expand the drinking water and sewerage system in the Misiones province capital Posadas. Supercementos (US$22.8mn), UTE Homaq-Coarco (US$33.3mn) and UTE Iecsa-Tecma (US$20.9mn) submitted bids.
• Neuquen province is expected to call for construction bids for the US$400mn Chiuidos II hydroelectric project and dam this year. Chiuidos II is on the Rio Colorado and the concession will be for construction and operation for 25 years.

Bolivia

• The US$62mn Misicuni tunnel in Cochabamba is expected to be ready in the second quarter of 2002. Danish environmental engineering company Astaldi ICE is building the tunnel, with 15km of the 19km already complete.

Brazil

• The Senate's Services & Infrastructure Committee has approved a bill that would guarantee water supply at no charge to families that use less water than a certain target allowance.
• Congress has excluded a sanitation bill from the list of 2001's priority projects, which means that the new law to govern the water industry will not be enacted until at least 2002.
• The federal government has agreed to launch the São Francisco river recovery project. US$30mn have been allocated to the project. The Sao Francisco is Brazil's longest river. Some 15 million people in 505 municipalities live in the river's basin.
• Bahia state government has deferred the privatization of state waterworks company Embasa. No new date has yet been set for the process to restart.
• Bahia municipality Maua launched the bidding process for a sewerage works project - Sanear - that entails expanding the current network and building a sewage treatment station. The winner will act as concessionaire for seven years in the Capuava petrochemical complex. The expected investment is US$86mn.
• Minas Gerais state waterworks company Copasa will tender a US$25.4mn (70mn reais) contract to build a second wastewater treatment plant in the Onca basin. The plant will serve Contagem and state's capital Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third biggest city.
• Minas Gerais state's legislature approved a bill requiring a referendum for the privatization of power company Cemig. The constitutional amendment also covers the privatization of Minas Gerais waterworks company Copasa.
• Parana state has presented a plan for the second stage of Paranasan II, an expansion program run by state waterworks company Sanepar. Work will be completed through 2003. Some US$24.3mn (65mn reais) will be invested in water distribution. Paranasan will build 12 new reservoirs with a total combined capacity of 85 million liters, increasing total potable water available by 78% and guaranteeing water supplies through 2015. Sanepar will soon auction construction contracts for the two largest reservoirs: Piraquara (22 billion liters of water), and Miringuava (34 billion liters of water). A further US$44.8mn (120mn reais) will be invested in water collection in the Curitiba city and metropolitan region.
• Parana's Sanepar has hired Banco do Brasil to manage a US$334mn (900mn reais) capital increase, planned for sometime before March 2002. New preferred shares and ADRs will be issued.
• The council of Rio Grande do Sul state's Pro-Guaiba environmental management program has approved the program's second phase (Modulo II). Modulo II is estimated to require US$495mn during its two five-year stages.
• France's Vivendi Environment has won a US$270mn contract to treat and recycle water, supply electricity and provide natural gas at the Vega do Sul steel mill, which is being construct in Santa Catarina.
• Santa Catarina's brokerage firm Bescval will coordinate the sale of shares held by state's power distributor Celesc's in waterworks company Casan. Celesc has a 19.3% stake in Casan and expects to raise some US$39.6mn (110mn reais) from the sale.
• São Paulo state government launched the second stage of a project to clean up the Tiete and Pinheiros rivers, with investments of US$400mn over four years. The plan requires the installation of 1,300km of wastewater pipes, covering approximately 12 million people in metropolitan region of São Paulo.
• São Paulo's government has asked the state legislature for authorization to sell up to 21.6% of the share capital of sanitation company Sabesp. The sale is part of the state government's 2002 budget. The state government owns 88.3% of Sabesp.

Chile

• Chile's House of Representatives has approved a bill that would remove the need for companies to obtain authorization for building wastewater treatment plants. The bill will now be sent to the Senate.
• Chile's government is expected to upgrade the status of its water authority to a ministerial department or under-secretariat. The water industry is currently regulated by the general water department (DGA), a unit of the Public Works Ministry (MOP). MOP also has a waterworks department (DOH).
• The Hydraulic Works Directorate of Chile's Public Works Ministry (MOP) has 11 irrigation dam concession projects on the pipeline that will require US$811mn in investments. The projects are: Chacrillas (US$15.5mn); Catemu (US$152mn); Puntilla del Viento (US$115mn); Convento Viejo (US$180mn); Longavi (US$86.3mn); Ancoa (US$50mn); Punilla (US$150mn); Diguillin (US$38.6mn); and Victoria (US$24mn).
• The Rabat family is negotiating the sale of its 50% stake in Santiago-based utility Aguas Manquehue with the owner of the other 50%, Spain's Aguas Barcelona. Aguas Barcelona would buy the stake through Aguas Andinas, the largest utility in the country. Andinas, formerly known as Emos, bought its 50% stake in Manquehue for US$10mn in January.
• Region II's environment regulator has approved local waterworks company Essan's EIS for a US$30mn, 600 liter per second desalinization plant. Spanish consortium Desalant and Essan signed a BOT contract to build the reverse osmosis plant, which will provide 70% of the water currently consumed in Region II's capital Antofagasta.
• Britain's Thames Water picked up a 30-year concession for Chile's Region VII water utility Essam, after submitting a bid of US$171mn in an auction. Thames also controls Region VIII's Essbio and Region VI's Essel. Meanwhile, a concession to operate Region IX water utility Essar did not attract any bids. The fact that only one bid came in for the two companies was attributed to failures in the auction process. Twelve companies and consortia had pre-qualified for the Essel sale and 10 for Essar. Essam has about 150,000 clients, 4.5% of the national total, and is the fifth water utility in Chile to leave the hands of the national government. The other four were sold rather than offered under concession.
• The Public Works Ministry (MOP) has launched a tender for work on a US$10.8mn project for remediation og the El Morro channel in Region VIII's town Talcahuano. Interested companies are Mendes Junior & Associates, Constructora Propuerto, Empresa Constructora Belfi, Construccion y Montaje Com, Montec, Hidrinor Chile and Ingesur.
• Southern Region VIII waterworks company Essbio will invest US$182mn in the next five years in potable water infrastructure and wastewater treatment plants. Important works include a US$47mn wastewater treatment plant in regional capital Concepcion and a US$13.6mn plant in the city of Los Angeles.
• The government has decided to offload an estimated US$737mn worth of water utility assets, including a 20% stake in southern operator Essbio (Region VIII) and smaller shareholdings in central operators Emos and Esval. The government's industry development agency Corfo retained 45% of Essbio after selling 42% and operational control to UK-based Thames Water. Emos serves capital city Santiago and is 54.2%-controlled by Spain's Agbar and France's Suez. Corfo holds 44.2% and workers and minority shareholders own the remainder. Esval serves Region V and is controlled by UK-based Anglian Water.
• The Public Works Ministry (MOP) is expected to start the pre-qualification phase for a concession worth US$180mn to expand and operate the Convento Viejo irrigation dam near Colchagua. MOP plans on having the concession auction in March 2002, with construction due to start in December of that year.

Colombia

• Colombia's government has signed agreements that authorize a US$76mn irrigation project for department La Guajira. The design of the irrigation system and the El Cercado dam will take two years and is expected to begin in January 2002. Construction is expected to take four years. The dam will be 120m high and have a 198 million cu. m capacity, of which 184 million cu. m will be useable benefiting 18,820ha. Bidding rules for the project have already been made available.

Dominican Republic

• The Dominican Republic's Environment & Natural Resources Department has begun discussing the launch of a national hydrological plan, which would reform the current system and create a national water commission. The plan would reform the water law that has become obsolete. The bill should be submitted to Congress before year end.
• Dominican Republic's President has inaugurated the US$213mn Moncion dam and reservoir in Valverde province. The 122m high, 345m long dam will supply more than 300 million cu. m of water per year, which will benefit close to 785,000 residents with drinking water, irrigation of more than 320,000ha and power generation.

El Salvador

• El Salvador's state waterworks company ANDA is working on a US$30mn project to triple water pumping capacity in capital San Salvador. Water will come from the River Lempa.

Guyana

• Eleven companies purchased documents for a water supply and wastewater services management contract in Guyana. The pre-qualification call is made pursuant to a grant of the UK's Department for International Development toward the cost of Guyana's water sector modernization. Subject to adequate progress on sector reform, Guyana intends to apply part of the grant to payments under the contract. Guyana aims to appoint a firm or consortium to manage a new company resulting from the consolidation of the Guyana Water Company and the Georgetown Sewerage & Water Commissioners.

Honduras

• Honduras Sula Valley Executive Commission (CEVS) and Spanish construction company OHL have signed a US$53.3mn contract for a number of contracts designed to prevent flood damage for a period of 20 years.

Mexico

• The State of Mexico is expected to submit to the state's legislature a bill that would promote rational water use and protect aquifers. More than three billion cu. m of water are extracted in the state each year, two billion of which are for household use, with 700 million cu. m. going to the Federal District and 1.3 billion cu. m. for Mexico state.

Panama

• Panama's national legislative assembly has started reviewing a waterworks bill that would regulate potable water and sewerage service providers. The bill would inspect, control and evaluate waterworks service providers, both public and private, or mixed.
• IDAAN (Panama's national aqueduct and sewerage institute) has qualified three of 15 companies that delivered offers for first phase construction of sewerage infrastructure in province Cocle city Aguadulce, which will require some US$7.15mn. The three companies are Plotosa, Proindeco and Ingenieria Caribe with offers of some US$4.9mn, US$5.75mn and US$6mn, respectively.
• IDAAN has also chosen 11 companies for evaluation in connection with the construction of the US$12mn Pacora drinking water plant. A committee will evaluate the companies. The plant will generate 12 million gallons of water a minute and serve various communities in the east of the country.

Puerto Rico

• Puerto Rico's government was expected to extend until next year the due date for bids from companies willing to manage the waterworks company AAA. Due to lack of information, some of the bidding companies asked for an extension period. The contract will be valid for 10 years and could be for as much as US$5bn.

Venezuela

• Venezuela's legislature approved a general water bill that would update the current Water Law that outlines the country's water related investment plans and strategies, which is done on a yearly basis. The bill has now been sent to the Environment Committee for a second debate.
• Venezuela's legislature has also approved the second review of a bill that would outline rights and responsibilities of consumers and providers of potable water and sewerage services. The committee will now review comments submitted by legislators before voting and send the bill to the floor. The bill would also create a national regulator to ensure quality potable water supply and sewerage services.
• AAA Servicios de Venezuela (joint venture between Colombia's Barranquilla-based aqueduct, sewage and sanitation company Triple A and Spanish water consortium Tecvasa) won a US$75mn contract to manage Venezuelan waterworks company Hidrolago de Maracaibo. AAA Servicios will be responsible for Hidrolago's operation, maintenance, commercialization and transfer of potable water and sewerage technology in Zulia state.