Chinese Government provides RMB 500 million grant for Lake Ilopango Water Treatment Plant Project (Linked to Record ID#71118)

Project narrative

On August 20, 2018, the Government of El Salvador announced that it was severing diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (‘Taiwan’) and establishing diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China (‘China’). Then, on September 20, 2019, the Chinese Government and the Government of El Salvador signed and Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which committed RMB 400 million ($62.24 million) of grant funding for multiple projects (including the National Library Construction Project, the Surfcity Potable Water, Roads, and Parks Project and the Lake Ilopango Water Treatment Plant Project). Approximately two months later, on December 3, 2019, during an official visit of President Xi Jinping to El Salvador, the Chinese Government and the Government of El Salvador signed another ETCA (see Record ID#71118), which committed an additional $500 million for multiple projects (including the National Library Construction Project, the Surfcity Potable Water, Roads, and Parks Project, the Lake Ilopango Water Treatment Plant Project, the Port of La Libertad Pier Expansion and Restoration Project, the Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site Restoration Project, and the National Stadium Construction Project). The Chinese Government and the Government of El Salvador also signed an exchange of notes (‘canje de notas’) on the Lake Ilopango Water Treatment Plant Project on December 3, 2019. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) is the funding source, and it has committed RMB 500 million of grant funding for the project. In May 2021, El Salvador’s legislative assembly ratified the September 20, 2019, ETCA. The purpose of the project is to construct a water treatment plant at Lake Ilopango. The plant will convert half of the water that is discharged from Lake Ilopango into drinking water and generate potable water for the municipalities of Soyapango and Altavista. The plant will be built on land owned by the autonomous community in Ilopango. From there, the water will be pumped to different tanks in Altavista, Soyapango, San Martín, and Ilopango. 5.3 cubic meters of water per second will flow through the drain, equivalent to 37% of the flow of the lake. In December 2019, a delegation from China visited El Salvador to visit the project site where the water treatment plant is to be installed. Then, in August 2020, MOFCOM awarded a project design contract to Tianjin Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute (天津市市政工程设计研究院). A second delegation of Chinese technical experts arrived in October 2020. Then, in January 2021, the Chinese Government donated a batch of engineering supplies to ANDA to support El Salvador’s drinking water supply networks. The President of ANDA, Rubén Alemán, announced at the equipment handover ceremony that the Lake Ilopango Water Treatment Plant Project was ‘advancing with solid steps’ and that experts from ANDA and China had ‘conducted a detailed study of the project and achieved significant progress’. Despite the progress, the project has faced controversy. Studies show that the lake is too contaminated to be purified. In addition, there has been a lack of transparency with studies and information on the project being withheld. In October 2022, the Agency for International Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the National Administration of Aqueducts and Sewers (ANDA) of El Salvador signed an Execution Agreement on Monday to make the water of Lake Ilopango drinkable. The project will consist of the construction of a battery of at least eight deep wells, which will reinforce the water supply in seven municipalities, most of them in San Salvador, the largest city in El Salvador. There will also be a water treatment plant, water pipes, and pumping stations. The project, which is in its initial phase, includes the execution design stage. The cost of the eight wells is USD $40 million. This agreement is integrated into the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement between the Governments of China and El Salvador, signed in 2019. On the morning of December 4, 2023, the groundbreaking ceremony for the China-aided El Salvador Ilopango Lake Water Supply Project was held in Ilopango City. Construction is expected to take 3 years with a planned implementation date of December 4, 2026. The plant will produce 306l/s of potable water and will supply more than 250,000 people in eight municipalities where water shortages have been reported: Soyapango, San Martín, Ilopango, San Marcos, Santo Tomás, Santiago Texacuangos, Olocuilt, and San Francisco Chinameca. The environment and natural resources ministry (MARN) has reportedly warned that water in the area contains toxic substances, including boron and arsenic. However, Anda has refused to provide information about the quality of water from the wells despite requests from environmental groups such as Foro del Agua.