A long-discussed desalination plant in Rosarito Beach may break ground in Q4. A cargo airport outside Ensenada and the expansion of Ensenada’s seaport, which are key to Baja California’s economic growth, are also in the planning, noted Baja California State secretary of economic development Carlos Bonfante Olache this week at the 4th annual World Forum for Foreign Direct Investment in San Diego.

Baja California strongly believes in developing infrastructure to become more competitive, he says, and the state government will close the bidding process on the desalination plant April 21, with selection of a developer by mid-May, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Construction will begin by the end of the year, with the plant operational by Q1 2019. The facility, estimated to cost $600M, will be developed as a public-private partnership. It eventually will have a capacity of producing 100,000 acre-feet of potable water daily.

The state also is developing the cargo airport outside Ensenada, which will involve a public-private partnership to build and operate the airport. The state government has acquired the land for the airport and is looking for a private sector airport developer-operator. The federal government is expanding the Port of Ensenada to increase  capacity from 250,000 containers a year to 400,000, he says. [SDUT]