A discarded shoe along with other rubble found at the Tijuana River Valley Regional campgrounds. Courtesy of SDSU School of Public Health.
The Tijuana River sewage crisis is a decades-old problem that’s only gotten worse.
Over the last few years, unprecedented flows of untreated wastewater have inundated the Tijuana River estuary, flowing into and around border communities before heading out into the Pacific Ocean.
The pollution has affected residents’ health and quality of life, though doctors and scientists say the full extent of the problem is unknown.
The problem has also attracted renewed attention. The San Diego Air Pollution Control District issued the first nuisance citation for odors coming from the sewage overflows. Since then, multiple lawsuits have been filed and new scientific studies are underway while officials anticipate long-awaited funding for the federal wastewater treatment plant on the U.S. side of the border.
But many say that is still not enough, and neither Gov. Gavin Newsom nor the White House have answered local calls for a state of emergency declaration.
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Here’s what we’re watching on the issue in 2025.
The sun rises over the Tijuana River Trash Boom, with the South Bay International Water Treatment Plant on Dec. 13, 2024. (Philip Salata/inewsource)
A new injection of funding
President Biden approved $250 million in additional funds that will go to repairing and building out the federally-owned South Bay International Water Treatment Plant. Congress already committed $400 million for the project.
In December, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre flew to the U.S. Capitol with a regional bipartisan delegation to make a case for the funds and to ask the Biden administration one last time to declare a state of emergency. Neither the federal government nor the state of California have done so.#placement_508230_0_i{width:100%;margin:0 auto;}
Aguirre said she is looking to the next presidential administration to take action.
“I actually see it as renewed hope, because it’s an opportunity for us to advocate to the Trump administration, and there’s more window of opportunity because the same party has the majority in both chambers of Congress,” Aguirre said.
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She also said her eyes are on the reopening of the San Antonio de los Buenos treatment plant south of Tijuana on the Mexican coast. Outdated and undergoing repairs, the plant is due to be operational again in January. While the plant has been under construction, millions of gallons of untreated sewage have flowed past it into the Pacific Ocean. Once online, it will take on 18 million gallons of sewage a day, decreasing impacts on the coastline on both sides of the border.
Aguirre has said she intends to seek the San Diego County Supervisor seat Nora Vargas will vacate in January after announcing she’s stepping down.
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre speaks at a press conference accompanying Sen. Steve Padilla on Dec. 4, 2024. (Philip Salata/inewsource)
Mounting lawsuits
By year’s end, four lawsuits had been filed against Veolia, the multinational company that operates the South Bay International Water Treatment Plant under contract with the U.S. government.
Two of the suits, filed by the Frantz Law Group and Singleton Schreiber, are mass lawsuits that will be seeking plaintiffs throughout the year.
Another lawsuit, filed by San Diego Coastkeeper, has been stayed as the International Boundary and Water Commission works to bring the treatment plant back to compliance.
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The Coastkeeper’s executive director, Philip Musegaas, says though the judge’s decision is frustrating, ultimately the goal is to apply pressure for the plant to meet its mandate and minimize the impacts of sewage flows across the border. The plant is moving in the right direction, he said.
Musegaas says that time is a critical factor as the wet season approaches.
“If we have heavy rain, and we have a lot of flow in the Tijuana River, then I think that the IBWC will have trouble managing that,” he said.
David Gibson, the regional water board’s executive officer, said the board will track the sewage flows. In December the water board held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Tijuana River Trash Boom Pilot Project. The boom is a barrier designed to capture trash flowing down the river during storm events. It’s built to adapt to the volume and intensity of storm water.
“We’ll have a chance to see how well this trash boom will work during those flow events. We really want to get some sizing on small storms and big storms,” Gibson said.
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Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography carryout studies at the Tijuana River on Dec. 19, 2024. (Philip Salata/inewsource)
Scientists gauge impacts
Scientists studying the impacts of exposure to pollutants from the sewage crisis say much is unknown about the short and long-term effects. But the results of their research could answer some questions.
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Earlier this year a team of more than 50 scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Texas in Austin conducted a wide-ranging study of Tijuana River Valley pollution, also collaborating with researchers from San Diego State University.
They identified high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas emanating from the river which local clinicians have linked to a rise in symptoms such as headaches, gastrointestinal as well as respiratory issues.
Kim Prather, who is leading the Scripps team, says her lab will soon publish preliminary results. In their article proposal, Prather and her team explain how their studies provide data around a recent surge in hydrogen sulfide gasses which drove some community members to tape their windows shut to reduce contamination in their homes.
Polluted water churns in the Tijuana River at Saturn Blvd. on Dec. 19, 2024. Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography carryout studies at the Tijuana River on Dec. 19, 2024. (Philip Salata/inewsource)
The results of another study conducted late last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with San Diego County should be published early 2025. The community survey, called a CASPER (Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response), is based on interviews with community members and is an attempt to formally account for the community health complaints related to the sewage.
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Fuyuen Yip, the CDC’s chief of emerging environmental hazards and health effects, is leading the survey project. Yip told inewsource she hopes the project will provide information as to how local authorities can improve public health.
Meanwhile Musegaas from Coastkeeper says his organization has acquired funding to conduct testing of Tijuana River water. He plans to carry out tests throughout the area for bacteria, viruses, as well as metals and other industrial waste.
Sen. Steve Padilla speaks at a press conference about SB 10 on Dec. 4, 2024. (Philip Salata/inewsource)
A California bill could help
Last year State Sen. Steve Padilla introduced SB10, a bill that if approved would give the San Diego Association of Governments the ability to use toll funds from the future Otay Mesa East Port of Entry to establish a mitigation fund for Tijuana River pollution.
Padilla’s bill stopped short of mandating the fund.
“You want to be permissive and flexible, and you want to encourage everyone to collaborate towards a solution,” Padilla said.
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Philip Salata is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist for inewsource focused on the environment and energy in San Diego and Imperial counties.
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