Las Nieves Wastewater Treatment Plant, Villa las Nieves, Durango, Mexico

Las Nieves is a municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Villa las Nieves, within the municipality of Ocampo, Durango, Mexico. The facility serves a population of approximately 3,560 residents, providing secondary treatment to manage domestic wastewater from the community. The plant has a designed capacity of 570.24 cubic meters per day and currently discharges 336.96 cubic meters per day of treated effluent. As a secondary treatment facility, it meets the standard level required for inland communities under Mexican regulations (NOM-001-SEMARNAT), which sets discharge limits for conventional pollutants. The treated effluent from Las Nieves ultimately drains into the local watershed within the Nazas River basin, which flows through the arid landscapes of Durango. The plant plays a key role in protecting downstream water quality and supporting the ecological health of the region's intermittent rivers and reservoirs.

The plant discharges into the Nazas River basin, a semi-arid watershed in northern Mexico that drains into the Laguna de Mayran and eventually the Bolson de Mapimi endorheic basin. The region supports desert-adapted aquatic life and migratory birds that rely on seasonal water flows. Protecting water quality in this basin is critical for maintaining the ecological balance of the fragile arid ecosystem.