The federal government granted $300 million to San Diego for the long-standing problem of Tijuana sewage leaking over the U.S.–Mexico border. However, even though everyone seems agreeable that the money should be spent to build a larger border wastewater treatment facility, and even though all parties seem to have been working together harmoniously on the plan.
This is due to bureaucratic red tape. Congress must pass legislation, and the president must sign legislation authorizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (secured under U.S.-Mexico Canada agreement) to give the $300 million check to the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission.
The EPA must approve the IBWC with the appropriate language. It is an international organisation. It is not a government agency, stated Larry Cohen, chief staff for Rep. Juan Vargas. District 51 includes California’s borderlands with Mexico.
That authorizing languageVargas and the rest San Diego’s Congressional delegation have been working since June to pass this legislation.
MaryAnne Pintar, chief of Staff for Congressman Scott Peters office, stated that the language passed in the U.S House of Representatives but fell on the Senate floor.
To get language like this to be added to a larger bill in the Senate, it requires support from both political parties’ committee leadership. Pintar said in an email that they have not been able overcome that hurdle.
It’s a short amendment (350 words), but it does two major things. It gives the EPA permission for the IBWC to receive the economic treaty funds. It also states that the money should not be used to treat any water from Mexico to the U.S.
Chris Helmer, director for environment and natural resources at Imperial Beach, a coastal city border, said that the stormwater piece is important.
Helmer stated that this is why we sued (IBWC).
Imperial Beach IBWC was sued in 2018The agency is accused of violating the federal Clean Water Act. It allowed millions of gallons raw sewage, heavy metalls and other contamination into San Diego. This resulted in the closure of beaches along Southern California’s coast and the introduction of questionable water quality into the watershed. The suit was joined by other Californian groups and the city of San Diego. They agreed to drop their legal swords in 2020 so that the EPA could work with them to find a solution to the $300 million.
IBWC owns and runs that flood control channel. Helmer stated that this area is where they should be actively managing pollution. That includes the Tijuana sewage that flows to the IBWC plant. Also, all the water that spills into the Tijuana river flood plain on the U.S.-side when it rains. For context, at least 2.1 billion gallons were sent into the San Diego floodplain by the last rains of February 15 and March 4.
Helmer claimed that stormwater treatment was not an option under previous IBWC administrations. This legislation would essentially require that $300million and other EPA money is used to protect residents in the border area from water pollution of all kinds.
Cohen, Vargas office said that San Diego’s delegation tried but failed to get the amendment in the $1.5 trillion spending legislation passed recently. They hope Congress will approve it under the next iteration. Water Resources Development Act, which historically has been concerned with matters related to water navigation and flood risk.
The real question is: Will Congress’ glacial pace slow down the $300 million border treatment plant expansion that everyone is so mad about?
I don’t know.
Helmer, from Imperial Beach, isn’t concerned because he believes there may be other ways to get IBWC the money.
What do I want to know? He said.
Voice of San Diego produces reporting on the Tijuana River sewer crisis in partnership with Tijuanapress.com. With support from The Water Desk at The University of Colorado Boulder, and The Pulitzer Center, Our binational, bilingual reporting and photojournalism series highlights longstanding environmental problems that greatly impact the quality of life in this area.
