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San Diego and Tijuana’s Shared Sewage Problem has a Long History

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Kevan Q. Malone

In January, President Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) into law, replacing the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The new trade pact is set to go into full effect July 1. Thanks to House Democrats from Southern California, the legislative act governing its implementation in the United States will provide $300 million for infrastructure to stop the chronic flow of sewage across the international border from Tijuana, Mexico — an ecological peril highlighted on a recent episode of “60 Minutes.”

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Opinion: $300 Million for Repairs is Great, But San Diego Sewage Fiasco Still Stinks

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board

It was an immense relief Tuesday when Democratic California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris and San Diego-area House members Susan Davis, Mike Levin, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas jointly announced that the Environmental Protection Agency was formally proceeding with a $300 million plan to fix broken sewage infrastructure that has allowed sewage from the Tijuana River to frequently foul South County beaches. While it seems that amount won’t be sufficient to address all the improvements and repairs that are needed, it amounts to recognition that the U.S. government has an obligation to protect San Diego’s beaches.

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Sewage-Contaminated Water from Tijuana River Forces Silver Strand Closure

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Christine Huard

San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health Wednesday extended the existing water contact closure area at the Tijuana Slough and Imperial Beach shorelines north to include the Silver Strand shoreline.

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Back Off the Beach and the Rising Sea? No Way, California Cities Say

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Julie Cart

The view from high up in Del Mar’s 17th Street lifeguard station is a visit-California poster: a sweeping curve of sand, dramatic coastal bluffs, a welcoming sea. What scientists see, though, is somewhat more sobering: the Pacific Ocean as seething menace, a marine battering ram born of climate change that will inexorably claim more and more land and whatever sits upon it.

With rising seas now posing a greater threat to California’s economy than wildfires or severe earthquakes, state authorities are cautioning those who live along some of the Golden State’s famous beaches to do what they’re loath to do: retreat. Turn their backs to the sea and move homes, businesses, schools and critical infrastructure out of harm’s way.

The ocean could rise two to ten feet by 2100, imperiling $150 billion in property, according to state estimates, and erasing two-thirds of California’s beaches.

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Tijuana River Sewage Pollution Shutters Beaches as far North as Coronado

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

Beaches were closed on Tuesday from the Mexico border to Coronado as rain flushed sewage-contaminated runoff from Tijuana into the San Diego region.

Millions of gallons of polluted water have been regularly flowing over the border through the Tijuana River for months. The southern shoreline in Imperial Beach has been closed since November as a result.

“Things have gotten worse than ever,” said Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina. “Over the last three months, the levels of pollution are astronomical. We’ve never seen anything like it.”

Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Cross Border Sewage Flow Inundating San Diego’s South County

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

San Diego’s border region is being pummeled every day by massive cross-border flows of sewage-tainted water.

Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina looked at the river flowing through a South County valley on a recent morning.

“This should be dry — dry weather. This should be dry,” Dedina said as he looked at the flowing water. “There should be a pump station on.”

The water flowing in the Tijuana River Valley comes from Mexico and it is on its way to the ocean. On this day, 27 million gallons of sewage-tainted water, which also carries a slurry of toxic chemicals, runs untreated into the United States.

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California Wants Feds to Address Cross-Border Sewage

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

State water pollution regulators in San Diego are asking federal officials to do more monitoring of cross-border water flows that could be polluted.

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board issued an investigative order in February that requires more monitoring of sewage-tainted cross-border flows.

The order requires the International Boundary and Water Commission to monitor more than a dozen locations over an 18-month period.

Regional Board Executive Director David Gibson said the order also calls for the testing results to be made public.

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

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Anna M. Phillips and Jennifer Haberkorn

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.

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Rain Brings Urban Runoff to San Diego County Beaches

/in , /by /CBS News 8

The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health issued a General Rain Advisory on Tuesday directing swimmers, surfers and others to avoid water contact at all beaches and bays following recent rainfall. The agency said swimming, surfing and diving should be avoided during rain and for 72 hours following rainfall.

The agency said with rain comes urban runoff that may contain large amounts of bacteria from sources such as animal waste, soil and decomposing vegetation. This runoff can cause bacteria levels to rise in ocean and bay waters especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers and lagoon outlets, according to the department.

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County Lifts Water Contact Closure In Imperial Beach

/in , /by /Fox 5 San Diego by City News Service

County environmental health officials Tuesday lifted the closure of coastal waters along the Imperial Beach shoreline after water testing found it safe for recreational use.

The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health regularly issues water-contact closures north of the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge and Border Field State Park when rainfall causes sewage-contaminated water in the Tijuana River to flow into U.S. waterways.

 

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