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Rains Turn Tijuana River Valley Into ‘Swamp of Sewage.’ but Wetlands May Need Those Flows.

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

Recent rains have poured into the Tijuana River, blasting Imperial Beach with more than a billion gallons of heavily polluted water since mid-February, according to federal estimates.

Pumps operated by Mexico that suck water out of the Tijuana River have been turned off for several weeks as rains overwhelmed the system’s capacity and debris clogged the intake. Officials said it should be cleaned out and running in about a week.

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Little Action on Border Sewage Crisis Since $300M Announcement

/in , /by /Voice of San Diego by Gustavo Solis

Rain fell on San Diego Monday. It wasn’t a lot of rain – an Accuweather forecast called for “a brief morning shower or two” with an anticipated rainfall of 0.01 inches.

But it was enough to prompt a beach closure at the Tijuana Slough, just south of Imperial Beach. That section of the beach is closed whenever the Tijuana River is flowing.

Cross-border sewage spills have been an issue in South County for decades.

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South Bay Residents, Officials Call for Faster Action on Tijuana-San Diego Sewage Problem

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Tammy Murga

Chula Vista resident and Imperial Beach lifeguard Lillian Burkhart still remembers the sting on her skin after surfing in Imperial Beach waters one day last summer. Within 24 hours, she fell ill with a gastrointestinal infection, she said.

“As the day went on after I left the water, I could really smell it. It was pungent. It smelled like sewage,” she said. “The next day I woke up feeling awful and I just threw up for 12 hours straight. I’ve never been that sick in my entire life.”

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Bill Introduced to Reduce Water Pollution at US-Mexico Border

/in , , /by /KPBS San Diegoby City News Service

A bill aimed at addressing pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border and improving water quality in the Tijuana and New rivers was introduced Wednesday.

The Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act would designate the Environmental Protection Agency as the lead agency coordinating federal, state and local agencies to build and maintain infrastructure projects aimed at reducing pollution along the border. It would also require the EPA and other agencies to identify a list of priority projects and would authorize the EPA to accept and distribute federal, state, and local funds to build, operate and maintain those projects.

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Mexico Says It Fixed the Tijuana River Sewage Problem. It’s Partly True

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer and Vicente Calderón

Like a giant garbage disposal, three huge new green pipes sit on Mexico’s side of the border, shredding trash in the Tijuana River that would otherwise jam this critical piece of th­­e city’s wastewater system that caused spills on the United States side.

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Imperial Beach Mayor Asking San Diego County to Declare a State of Emergency After Sewage Spill

/in , /by /CBS 8 (San Diego)by LaMonica Peters

Officials in Imperial Beach continue to grapple with sewage spilling into the Tijuana River after heavy rains, polluting the air and the water along south San Diego.

Wednesday, President Biden unveiled his plans to put environmental justice at the top of his list to fight climate change. Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina said he applauds the move and he wants to Imperial Beach to be a part of the new plan.

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California Mayor, Mexican Governor Launch War of Words over Cross-Border Sewage Spills

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Gustavo Solis

The mayor of Imperial Beach, Calif., and the governor of Baja California are engaged in an ongoing public feud over cross-border sewage spills, which have been a problem for years and resulted in polluting local communities in the United States and making people ill.

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War of Words Heats up Over International Efforts to Clean up Border Sewage

/in , , /by /Border Report (Nexstar Media Group)by Salvador Rivera

Baja California Gov. Jaime Bonilla is involved in a war of words with a California mayor over cleanup efforts along the Tijuana River Valley, which lies between Tijuana and the city of San Diego.

For decades, raw sewage, trash and debris have flowed from south of the border into the U.S.

Most of those materials, especially the raw sewage, end up in the Pacific Ocean, forcing the closure of beaches in cities like Imperial Beach where over the last nine months, beaches have been closed 180 days due to high bacteria levels in the ocean water.

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EPA Announces Short-Term Projects to Plug Border Sewage Flow

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Bianca Bruno

Emphasizing the “unprecedented” bipartisan cooperation between local and state governments, Border Patrol and the International Boundary & Water Commission, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced short-term projects Wednesday to plug the international sewage flow across the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Top EPA Official Promises Short-Term Fixes to Tijuana Sewage

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego

In a rare California appearance for President Donald Trump’s appointed Environmental Protection Agency leader, Andrew Wheeler promised the region millions in funding this budget cycle for some quick-er fixes to the age old Tijuana River sewage crisis.

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