City of Douglas holds public hearing on $24.6 million West Extension water and sewer project

The City of Douglas held a public hearing on May 13, 2026, to present Phase I of the West Extension Drinking Water and Wastewater Collection Project, a roughly $24.6 million plan to extend potable water and sewer infrastructure from the city limits to Cochise College and toward the new commercial port of entry.

Luis Pedroza, who presented project details to the Mayor and Council, said Phase I includes about 29,000 linear feet of waterline and 18,700 linear feet of sewer line, a new water campus at Cochise College with a 400,000-gallon reservoir and booster pumps, a new water well (Well 20), a utility bridge to cross Whitewater Draw and a pressure reducing valve at State Route 80 and Kings Highway. Pedroza said drilling for Well 20 began April 26, 2026, and the drilling phase was expected to be completed by August 2026.

Pedroza said the estimated cost for Phase I is approximately $24.6 million and that the overall two-phase corridor project is estimated at about $50 million. He said the city is seeking roughly $8 million in NADBank BEIF funding and expects additional support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, American Rescue Plan Act funding, WIFA and SRF sources. He said the environmental process for the project had been completed.

"A significant purpose was the elimination of wastewater discharge from septic systems in the corridor," Pedroza said, adding the project is anticipated to benefit a projected population of about 21,000 residents once looped into the existing Douglas distribution system. He said the extension would connect roughly seven existing water hookups and about 50 existing wastewater hookups, and that the grant is written to prioritize areas with the greatest existing septic discharge impacts.

City Manager Ana Urquijo and Pedroza explained that sewer routing toward Kings Highway and the port of entry was driven by elevation and mitigation priorities. Pedroza said Cochise College is a project partner, that the city purchased property at the college for a water campus, and that the college "would be a paying water customer" and had pledged backup water access if Well 20 went offline.

Pedroza described design progress: the SR-80 segment was complete, the Whitewater Draw bridge crossing and the sewer line from SR-80 to the border patrol station were at about 90% design, and the water campus design was about 60% complete. He said construction had already started on the water and sewer extension from Copper Avenue toward Cochise College, while the BEIF-funded portion (primarily the utility bridge and associated sewer work) had not yet commenced and required this hearing as part of the grant process.

On wastewater treatment capacity, Pedroza said engineers reviewed whether the city's recently expanded treatment plant could accept the corridor flows and concluded the existing plant could handle expected growth for roughly 40 to 50 years, though planning for a future facility should begin well before that threshold.

When resident Diana Lamar asked whether Cochise College was contributing financially, Pedroza confirmed the college would be a paying water customer. In response to timing questions, Urquijo said the BEIF funding required a public hearing and staff was following the funder's process; she said the city has a deadline to reach a certain completion point by December 2028 to sustain funding momentum. Pedroza said letters would be delivered to property owners along the construction corridor to inform them of the work and to clarify that residents could not immediately connect without following a formal connection process.

The council did not take any formal action on the project at the hearing; the meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.