The Port of San Diego has adopted a joint resolution recommending actions for the federal government to take to eliminate transboundary flows in the Tijuana River Valley. The Port is the state-designated trustee of public resources in and around Imperial Beach, which includes the ocean waters just off the Imperial Beach Pier, an area that is frequently impacted by toxic, sewage polluted water.
Continuing their push to end a decades-long environmental crisis, San Diego regional leaders announced today that several agencies and local cities will vote to recommend actions for the federal government to take to eliminate transboundary flows in the Tijuana River Valley.
The resolution – to be adopted by several city councils and boards over the next several weeks – solidifies the most urgent needs that regional leaders request from the federal level to address the underlying causes of the sewage, sediment, and trash that have contaminated San Diego land and waterways for decades.
Regional collaboration and partnerships are needed to solve cross-border water issues, according to San Diego County Water Authority Board Chair Jim Madaffer.
“The Water Authority is exploring innovative solutions to increase water supply reliability for the San Diego region, but also Baja California and the Southwest,” said Madaffer during today’s opening ceremony of RE:BORDER 2019 at San Diego State University. “Those solutions include the possibility of a transborder water connection that can help both Mexico and the United States.”
Madaffer’s special presentation, “Stewarding a Shared Resource for the Bi-National Region,” was part of the two-day RE:BORDER 2019 conference. It continues Tuesday at the Universidad Autónoma De Baja California in Tijuana.
The theme for the inaugural binational conference is “The Water We Share.” The goal is to forge regional solutions for transborder water issues by breaking down academic, political, and administrative boundaries.
The Tijuana River Watershed covers 1,750 square miles – three-fourths lies in Mexico and includes the cities of Tijuana and Tecate. Graphic: USFWS/Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
In his opening remarks, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, was optimistic about solving Tijuana sewage issues, such as polluted runoff flowing into the Tijuana River causing beach closures in Imperial Beach and Coronado.
“I’ve never seen more momentum than I have in the past six months to solve this cross-border sewage issue,” said Faulconer. “It is a true international issue that we can solve.”
State Water Resources Control Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel delivered the keynote address at the binational conference “RE:BORDER 2019 at San Diego State University on November 25. Photo: Water Authority
California State Water Resources Control Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel delivered the keynote address.
“The borders are arbitrary, but we are completely connected,” Esquivel told a crowd of about 200 people in Montezuma Hall. “Infrastructure investments are needed on both sides of the border, and we know with climate change, the entire watershed will be an entirely different place in the future.”
Day 2 sessions in Tijuana will examine how the transborder region will be affected by climate change – including greater risks of floods, landslides and wildfires – how reduced water for agriculture could impact the region, and on-going concerns about uneven access to water resources.
RE:BORDER is a new initiative from San Diego State University President Adela de la Torre that each year will examine a significant issue. The RE:Border 2020 conference is scheduled for November 12 and 13.
With rain on the way, there are concerns again about sewage in the water in Imperial Beach.
The first rain storms of the season moved into the region Tuesday, bringing significant rainfall throughout San Diego County along with the possibility of runoff that runs along the Tijuana River.
Residents are fearful that sewage-contaminated runoff from across the border will gush down the into Imperial Beach communities.
As of Wednesday morning, no beach closures were called.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law new legislation to further prevent the exposure of harmful chemicals and sewage into the Tijuana River Valley.
South Bay cities are preparing to go head-to-head with the federal government this week in a legal battle that could force the Trump administration to plug sewage spilling from Tijuana into San Diego.
Local officials filed the lawsuit in March after demanding for more than a year that federal infrastructure along the border be beefed up to ensure that flows from Mexico are captured before they foul San Diego wetlands and beaches.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
