Improvements on the way for wastewater infrastructure in Nogales

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Ana Kory, owner of Alexander's Formalwear in Nogales, is used to the sound of rushing water outside of her shop's window.

The water was running high Wednesday morning in the nearby wash. It slowed down during the day, but Kory said it was the highest she had ever seen it.

“It just gets scary…..You can hear the sound because we’re very close here,” Kory said.

Her business has been in the same location on Jefferson and Morley for the past 20 years. Last year, she saw first responders rescue someone in the wash who had fallen in.

“We hear sirens. We hear the fire engines because sometimes the arroyo takes people,” she said.

Before she owned her new location, Kory had a store located in Downtown Nogales. It was there that she said water from the wash overflowed and flowed into her business a few times.

“We were like, 'Oh, it’s going to rain today. Be careful. We put the sandbags, but it’s very dangerous,'” she said.

Kory hasn’t seen sewage in the streets, but she has seen dirty water. That water leaves her disappointed with local and state politicians.

“They haven’t done anything for years and years since we’ve been here,” she said.

In December, state lawmakers passed the Nogales Wastewater Improvement Act. It would fund future maintenance on the International Outfall Interceptor, an almost 10-mile pipeline carrying wastewater from Nogales, Arizona, Rio Rico and Nogales, Sonora. The law transferred ownership to the U.S.

Now Kory is hoping the new law is going to wash away her fears of flooding.

“Take a good look at Nogales because it is very…it’s scary when the arroyo comes down,” she said.