Pima County Considers Building Costly Desalination Plant – Arizona

That’s how a Pima County, Ariz., official, Eric Wieduwilt, describes a new proposal for a $4.1 billion desalination project that would start with a plant to remove salt from seawater in the Sea of Cortez in Sonora.

Then, the water would be shipped 196 miles by underground pipeline to the Tucson area, says a county study of the project.

The cost could add up to $60 to $90 per month to the typical Tucson-area homeowner’s water bill, said the County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department’s study.