Study to assess desalination’s potential to make up to 500,000 acre-feet of water available for the region

PHOENIX, Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the world’s leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets, today announced that it will serve as the lead engineering firm supporting the study of the proposed Northern Gulf of California Desalination Project concept. Working alongside Sacyr Water and the wider project team, Arcadis will provide engineering and technical analysis to support the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA) during the multi-stage appraisal process. WIFA’s Board of Directors has approved Stage 1.

Arizona continues to evaluate opportunities to diversify long-term water supply for the region. WIFA’s appraisal process is designed to evaluate potential new water sources and determine their technical, financial, environmental, cultural, and regulatory viability. Stage 1 authorizes the initial analysis and does not represent a decision regarding project development or future funding, which WIFA will evaluate separately based on the results of the appraisal.

The appraisal study will explore the viability of a desalination facility and associated conveyance infrastructure that would ultimately make up to 500,000 acre-feet of water supply. A distinctive element of the proposed concept is the evaluation of geothermal energy as a potential renewable energy source for the desalination and conveyance system.  The study is structured across six tasks: project management; technical evaluations; environmental and cultural evaluations; regulatory and contractual evaluations; society and community evaluations; and cost, financial and commercial evaluations.  Arcadis leads the technical, environmental, and regulatory evaluation work and contributes to the other elements of the appraisal alongside the broader project team.

Heather Polinsky, CEO, Arcadis said: “Reliable, resilient water supplies are essential for Arizona’s communities, now and for generations to come. This appraisal will give WIFA the technical information it needs to assess whether desalination, supported by renewable energy, could strengthen the region’s long-term water security. With the potential to make up to 500,000 acre-feet of water available, the concept deserves careful examination. Working alongside Sacyr Water, we bring together Arcadis’ expertise in water, desalination, infrastructure and renewable energy to help WIFA understand what is possible and make informed decisions about the region’s future water supply.”

ABOUT ARCADIS

Arcadis is the world’s leading company delivering data-driven sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. We are around 34,000 architects, data analysts, designers, engineers, project planners, water management and sustainability experts, all driven by our passion for improving quality of life. As part of our commitment to accelerating a planet positive future, we work with our clients to make sustainable project choices, combining digital and human innovation, and embracing future-focused skills across the environment, energy and water, buildings, transport, and infrastructure sectors. We operate in over 30 countries, and reported €4.9 billion in gross revenues for 2025. 

Learn more at www.arcadis.com 

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SOURCE Arcadis