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Tijuana’s Illegal Sewer Hookups Linked to Cross-Border Pollution

Parque Baja California should be the ideal community park. Mature trees provide shade and benches give visitors a comfortable place to sit and feel the ocean breeze.

But running through the middle of the park is a drainage culvert with water flowing year round.

EPA Considers Projects To Fix Cross-Border Pollution Flows

Federal officials are getting closer to identifying how they plan to control persistent cross-border sewage flows which routinely foul the San Diego ocean.

They talked publicly on Friday about ongoing efforts to fix a persistent problem, sewage coming from Tijuana which fouls a sensitive estuary in the United States and also contaminates the ocean.

Who Owns the Tijuana River – and Who Needs Its Water Most

On a stormy day, 1 billion gallons of water can rage down the river crossing from Tijuana to San Diego.

None of that water is captured for reuse now among the two desert cities it splits, which are regularly prone to drought, because it’s considered polluted by sewage spills on the Mexican side. If successfully recycled, that water could prove to be valuable as the Southwest grows more water-uncertain due to climate change.

Unlikely Allies Got White House to Tackle Tijuana River Mess: How They Pulled it Off

For decades, millions of gallons of raw sewage and trash have flowed from the Tijuana River to the Pacific Ocean, fouling beaches, angering Southern Californians and getting worse by the year.

An estimated 143 million gallons of waste from Tijuana spilled into the river valley in 2017, overwhelming a treatment plant built by the United States and Mexico nearly 25 years ago. Last October, a corpse clogged a sewage intake screen, causing a backup and sending 14.5 million gallons of polluted water over the border and into the U.S.

State Officials Ask EPA for Action On Cross-Border Pollution

The State Lands Commission and State Controller pleaded with the Environmental Protection Agency in a letter Friday asking for immediate action to stop the flow of 50 million gallons per day of polluted water into the Tijuana River Valley. That polluted water flow has created significant and ongoing beach closures in Imperial Beach and Coronado. “The State Lands Commission is deeply concerned about the latest flows of untreated wastewater into the Tijuana River and the impacts of this pollution on community health and public lands,” said State Controller and State Lands Commission Chair Betty Yee.

San Diego Leaders Say $300M in New Federal Cash Will Help Build U.S. Facility to Capture TJ River Pollution

The San Diego region has secured $300 million in federal funding for a new U.S. facility to capture Tijuana sewage spills before they foul South Bay shorelines, elected leaders said Friday. “This has been an issue in our region for decades, and concrete federal action to address cross-border pollution has been long overdue,” said Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, at a news conference in Chula Vista. Congressional leaders announced the funding in December, but it wasn’t clear whether that money would be doled out across the entire southwest border or dedicated specifically to address pollution in the Tijuana River Valley.

Trade Agreement Includes $300 Million For Border Pollution Cleanup, Including Tijuana River Valley

The new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement reached Tuesday commits the federal government to provide $300 million for the Border Water Infrastructure Program to address pollution on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the Tijuana River Valley region, where millions of gallons of raw sewage, heavy metals and other contaminants regularly flow from Tijuana to San Diego.

The funding likely represents the most significant federal commitment to the problem in decades, elected officials said.

Bi-National Conference Tackles Border Region’s Water Issues

A bi-national conference held Monday at San Diego State University was aimed at analyzing water resources in the Baja California and San Diego border region where challenges include cross-border pollution and water scarcity, experts said.

EPA Updates Residents On Efforts To Reduce Cross-Border Pollution

A representative from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday evening updated San Diego residents on the EPA’s efforts to reduce transboundary pollution in the water between Mexico and the United States.

Local nonprofit Citizens’ Oversight organized the informal meeting at Balboa Park, where the public had the opportunity to ask questions and share concerns.

“It was interesting to us because we live here in California, we care about the bay, we hear about the ocean and we also care about Imperial Beach because we go there a lot and we have property down there,” said San Diego resident Ray Carruthers.