During April 2025, the Board of Arizona’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) provided final approval for the City of Bisbee’s request for $1,992,000 for the design, engineering, permitting and construction of a new effluent pump station at Naco Hwy & Purdy Lane, and the associated pipeline, from the San Jose Wastewater Treatment Plant. This is the first phase in the construction of the larger Bisbee Effluent Recharge Project-one of CCRN’s top two priority projects for construction, to sustain the San Pedro River within the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. Thanks go out to Steve Pauken for spearheading this ambitious effort, along with many others, including Matt Gurney, and Mark Apel (since retired). These state funds will be especially useful going forward, as they can also help us leverage additional federal funding for the full build out of the project in the future.