The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality has lifted the water contact closure and advisory for the Imperial Beach and Silver Strand shorelines.
Recent water quality testing confirms that cross-boundary sewage flows are no longer impacting these beaches, which remain open. Recent closures also have extended into Coronado, at beaches near the Hotel del Coronado.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants the public to weigh in on a $630 million plan to fix the region’s cross border pollution problems.
Federal officials have completed a draft environmental impact review on a project that would treat sewage in the waters along the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego and they are looking for public comment.
The agency is recommending a sweeping plan to bolster the capture and treatment of sewage tainted flows on both sides of the international border.
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.”
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
