San Diego County could start treating sewage that spills into the binational Tijuana River from Mexico, reforming how the region manages the decades-long pollution crisis.
In a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors approved a multistep plan to explore building infrastructure that would treat flows in the river before they enter the ocean.
The South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which the U.S. operates, and other treatment infrastructure Mexico manages, are meant to keep Tijuana’s sewage away from the river. But after heavy rains or when pipes in the system break down, millions of gallons of raw sewage and other toxic chemicals leak into the river.
That pollution, San Diego researchers have shown, aerosolizes, putting people’s health at risk. Flows also reach the ocean, leading to beach closures as far north as Coronado.
Supervisors Terra Lawson Remer and Paloma Aguirre, who are spearheading the effort, said there’s a local need to add another line of defense “before (polluted flows) move downstream into San Diego communities and beaches.”
“After 60 years, that is the gap that has no solution: the U.S. side of the Tijuana River is not treated at all,” the supervisors said in a County Board letter. “Once sewage and toxic runoff are in the river, nothing protects our coastlines and communities from the impacts.”
The infrastructure, they added, that would stop pollution at its source is south of the border, “subject to Mexico’s funding, timeline, and political decisions.”
At the board meeting, Aguirre, whose District 1 includes the communities affected by the crisis, said that when pollution crosses into the San Diego region, the county has a responsibility to keep its residents safe.
“We'll keep working with Washington and Mexico, but we will set the pace and we won't wait on anyone else's timeline,” she said.
The plan’s first of three phases involves exploring “engineering parameters, treatment levels, weighing the cost, site control, locational footprints, operational considerations, financing strategies, and delivery time frame,” according to a county staff report.
Phase two would require the Board to vote on a preferred project and the last phase would involve going through the permitting and environmental review processes.
County staff is expected to spend the next year and a half developing concepts for treating river flows. The work will be funded with $1.8 million in county reserves.
Supervisor Joel Anderson cast the lone vote in opposition, saying building and managing a treatment system would be too costly.
“That could lead to billions,” he said. “The county just doesn't have that kind of money. And it shouldn't be the county's responsibility. The state and the feds and everybody else should be involved.”
Officials said long-term funding for the infrastructure could come from a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot.
