U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced plans to extend the border wall and have it cut across the Tijuana River where the river enters the U.S. in San Diego. The Tijuana River flows from south to north and crosses from Mexico into the U.S. right next to the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, and other local Congress members introduced the Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act of 2020 Friday to address pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border and improve the water quality of both the Tijuana and New rivers.
The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health announced Wednesday it has extended the existing water contact closure area at the Tijuana Slough shoreline north to include the Imperial Beach shoreline. Sewage-contaminated runoff in the Tijuana River has been entering the Tijuana Estuary, and observations indicate contamination of ocean water now extends from the International Border north to the Imperial Beach shoreline, DEH officials said.
Mexican officials say there may be relief soon for San Diego South Bay residents living with massive daily sewage flows from Tijuana.
The sewage-tainted flows routinely hit 25 million gallons a day. Some days earlier this year, the flow topped 70 million gallons.
California State Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) convened a half-day meeting at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant on July 9, 2020 between officials from both sides of the border to discuss the binational efforts that are underway to stem the flow of toxic wastewater in the Tijuana River Valley.
Water pollution from Tijuana sewage runoff has once again shuttered the Imperial Beach shoreline. The County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health on Saturday extended north the existing beach water-contact closure area at the Tijuana Slough shoreline to now also include the Imperial Beach shoreline.
The term “crisis on the border” typically refers to immigration issues or drugs being smuggled into the country. But it has one more meaning, as we discovered, when we went to the border in early February: tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage that spill every year into the Tijuana River on the Mexican side and flow across the border right into Southern California, polluting the land, air, and sea.
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.
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.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed spending $300 million to address the problem of toxic sewage flowing across the border into San Diego County, legislators announced Tuesday.
The money would be part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, and will be used for the engineering, planning, design and construction of wastewater infrastructure at the border, officials said.
“San Diegans have suffered too long from the regular flow of raw sewage into our country from Mexico. With the full $300 million, the EPA can now lead a comprehensive and coordinated effort with the local community to build much-needed wastewater infrastructure for the region,” read a joint statement from Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, Reps. Susan Davis, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas, all D-San Diego, and Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano. “The health and safety of California’s border communities must be a top priority for everyone involved. We will continue to work with local communities, the state and federal agencies to finally bring some relief to San Diego County.”
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
