When it rains in Tijuana, it pours sewage. That’s been the reality for decades and recent storms hit the border area hard. It’s a reminder that while energy and attention have been focused on trying to rein in the coronavirus pandemic, other big problems remain.
Twenty-five to 35 million gallons of raw sewage is pouring into the ocean every day and could keep flowing all summer long. Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina tweeted Friday about the fluctuating flow rate of the Tijuana River, which could indicate that parts of Mexico are using the river as an open sewer. Dedina recently told KUSI “this could be the worst round of pollution we have ever seen coming at us. In 2017, we had 250 million gallons spilled, now we have 50 million gallons, a minimum of 50 million gallons every single day.”
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.
The San Diego region has secured $300 million in federal funding for a new U.S. facility to capture Tijuana sewage spills before they foul South Bay shorelines, elected leaders said Friday. “This has been an issue in our region for decades, and concrete federal action to address cross-border pollution has been long overdue,” said Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, at a news conference in Chula Vista. Congressional leaders announced the funding in December, but it wasn’t clear whether that money would be doled out across the entire southwest border or dedicated specifically to address pollution in the Tijuana River Valley.
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.
The new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement reached Tuesday commits the federal government to provide $300 million for the Border Water Infrastructure Program to address pollution on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the Tijuana River Valley region, where millions of gallons of raw sewage, heavy metals and other contaminants regularly flow from Tijuana to San Diego.
The funding likely represents the most significant federal commitment to the problem in decades, elected officials said.
County environmental health officials expanded their ongoing closure of coastal waters Friday to include the Silver Strand shoreline due to sewage-contaminated water.
The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health first issued a water-contact closure Thursday between the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge and Border Field State Park after rainfall this week caused contaminated water in the Tijuana River to flow into U.S. waterways.
Contamination of soil and groundwater takes a huge toll on California’s environment.
In 2017, the amount of untreated sewage and industrial waste dumped into Southern California rivers was equal to at least 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools. More than 100 million gallons of untreated sewage were dumped into the Tijuana River near Imperial Beach in September 2019.
The problem is getting worse.
A body trapped inside a pump station in Tijuana prevented a pump station from diverting sewage south. That caused more than 14 million gallons of sewage to spill across the U.S.-Mexico border over the weekend, federal officials said.
The spill started around 9 p.m. Sunday night and continued until 8 a.m. Monday morning, according to the International Boundary and Water Commission. The trans-boundary flows included treated and untreated sewage.
Activists pushed for action at a rally Saturday morning addressing the toxic flow of sewage from Tijuana into Southern California beaches.
Sewage flowing into the Tijuana River has been responsible for closing beaches an average of 300 days a year. Environmental organization “Stop the Poop” wants to see permanent solutions.
“This is environmental and biological terrorism on the people of the United States of America,” said Stop the Poop Founder Baron Partlow.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
