S1: Just like six flags are nice , bumpy , up and down.
S2: This past summer , our producer Julio took to the skies in a small five passenger plane to survey the San Diego Tijuana border region. At the controls was Captain Gary Craft of Eco flight.
S3: We were going to get a pretty good view of the river and the canal.
S1: Oh , here we go.
S2: He and a small group of journalists took off from Brownfield Municipal Airport , near the Otay Mesa port of entry. San Diego County's eastern gate into the US.
S3: We'll go out towards the estuary first. We'll come back along the border here.
S4: They were there to get a bird's eye view of the region , to better understand the environmental issues impacting both sides of the border.
S2: From that height. You could appreciate the entire Tijuana River watershed and the cross-border geography , including the Tijuana River's roughly 118 miles from its headwaters in Mexico into the US.
S1: You guys should be getting a good view of the estuary down right below us.
S2: Leading the tour was Waylon Mattson , environmentalist and co-founder of Four Walls , a nonprofit that works on environmental solutions for problems faced by marginalized communities.
S4: From the plane window , the sea shimmered and the Tijuana River snaked through to the Tijuana estuary.
S2: One of the largest remaining natural coastal wetlands in Southern California.
S1: Now we're going over Monte Canyon , probably the best view San Diego and Tijuana. However , this is Los Laurel's Canyon right here. That's where I spend a little bit of time.
S4: During this plane ride , Whalen pointed to the different landmarks where the watershed crosses the border as the water flows from Tijuana downstream to different points in San Diego County.
S1: There's a La Linea. No ! Stop ! Yeah.
S4: No , stop. As they were flying over the San Ysidro International Port of Entry , Whalen pointed to a semicircle of what looked like little squares looping from one side of the Tijuana River to the other.
S1:
S2: It was designed to also keep the trash from flowing north.
S4: The rivers , canyons , and estuaries know no borders.
S2: And with all that water , my friends , comes pollution. Tons and tons of it daily.
S5: This week's storm sent more than 14.5 billion gallons of untreated raw sewage into California from Mexico levels officials say have never been seen before.
S6: Mexico has a faulty sewage system that's dumping sewage into our part of the ocean , and the Pacific Ocean is not looking too good on many occasions.
S4: Cross-border pollution has been a bit of a sore spot between the two countries for years. Just weeks before this episode was published , President Donald Trump took to social media to demand action.
S2: Quote , Mexico must take care of its water and sewage problem immediately. It is a true threat to the people of Texas , California and the United States of America.
S4: Today , we speak with four from Theresa's who rolled up their sleeves and took matters into their own hands to fill in the void left by governments on both sides.
S2: They've dedicated their life's work to address this problem that's affecting millions of people in the region.
S4: If this is the first time you are tuning in , we're showcasing people with out-of-the-box solutions to everyday problems.
S2: This season is all about visionaries and shapers of the borderlands. Today , we're talking about cross-border pollution and those who've dedicated their life's work to contain it or repurpose it.
S4: The planetary scale part for slowing the flow. Redux.
S2: Redux. Stay tuned. From KPBS. This is Port of Entry.
S4: Where we tell cross-border stories that connect us.
S2: I'm Alan Lilienthal.
S4: And I'm Natalie Gonzalez.
S2: You are listening to Port of Entry. Stopping the flow of pollution can feel like a Sisyphean task with every effort to tackle it. More trash seems to appear. That's why addressing the pollution crisis at the border takes a multi-pronged approach. It involves many different types of interventions , from trash barriers to hillside reforestation , to trash collection and repurposing efforts.
S4: Months before the plane ride , Julio made his way down to the Tijuana River in the US side near the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant and not far from the Tijuana River estuary.
S2: He was headed to the riverbed right where the Tijuana River crosses the international border line to a concrete lined canal beside the border fence , locally known as El Gordo.
S4: Grey silt covered the riverbed.
S7: This is silt coming from Tijuana. This is the Rio Tijuana. This is the Rio type one right here. Right. We are in the middle of the Tijuana River.
S2: He was there to meet environmentalist Oscar Romo.
S4: The project manager behind the trash booms that Whalen pointed out from the sky. During the plane tour , Romo was wearing a bright orange raincoat and his signature beret. He pointed to the contaminated seal that made its way across the border , along with heavier trash.
S7: I would say this field is full of toxics. That water , you can tell by the color that is , is pretty polluted. Extremely polluted.
S4: Julio's boots would sink an inch deep in the gray silt as he was walking towards Oscar's installation site.
S2: The air smelled of raw sewage. debris was scattered along the riverbed. Tires , plastic containers , furniture , toys. All of it coming from Tijuana's urban sprawl.
S7: The pollution is highly concentrated , and you don't know what you're going to find there. Industrial residues.
S2: According to Romo. Waste from junk cars and small maquiladoras , along with sewage , is being dumped into the Tijuana River on the Mexican side , often illegally and in the cover of night. That's been widely documented by local and federal agencies.
S7: Especially on the first storm watch , which we're expecting in a couple of weeks. Uh , the the water brings all kinds of things furniture , carcasses , uh , a hospital waste , um , industrial waste.
S4: Romo founded Alta Terra , a conservation nonprofit , over two decades ago. He spearheaded a number of different conservation projects , but is now focused on one mission.
S2: Stopping the flow of trash from entering San Diego. Julio and Romo drove to Romo's worksite.
S7: Where we're deploying these barriers. So we have contractors helping us with that.
S2: In the middle of the riverbed. A crew of workers were installing the trash booms. Who.
S7: Who.
S4: Had met Oscar Romo previously when Romo was presenting his research and interventions at a cross-border symposium in 2020.
S7: For some of the things I do is like trash booms , which is the structures that are put in creeks and rivers to prevent the flow of trash. Philosophically , I'm using trash to control the flow of trash.
S2: These booms have stopped about 50 tons of debris in the most recent storm , and according to Romo , 500 tons of heavy debris just in the last 20 2425 storm season.
S7: We are about half a mile from where the river crosses from Mexico to the US.
S2: The concrete Tijuana Canal that runs through the whole city of Tijuana continues on to the American side. The concrete floor is buried by topsoil runoff. Polluted silt and vegetation covered different parts.
S7: And we place these heavy concrete blocks. We have about 97 tons of weight , uh , to hold these , uh , heavy duty threaded cables. And these cables are gonna hold 160 individual trash barriers.
S4: The trash barriers had two industrial sized barrel drums installed inside to help them float.
S7: And the shell is is made of this plastic collected in Tijuana from mostly from illegal dump sites.
S2: The trash boom shell resembles something like a Jackson Pollock painting color fused over other colors.
S4: A semicircle of these trash booms would stretch from one side of the river to the other.
S7: And it's also designed for hydro dynamism to prevent them from sinking. We want them afloat because the purpose of this project is to remove the floating trash.
S2: A set of booms were lined up and stacked on the side of the riverbed , ready to be deployed.
S7: Yeah , we're going to have just like those one next to the other one , and they're attached by some rigging also. So there will be almost no space between them. So we're we're creating a floating barrier.
S4: This is a project that Romo has been working to get funding for for quite a while.
S7: Uh , it was recommended probably ten years ago , but it took another ten years to finally get the funding for it.
S4: Romo was installing the pilot project thanks to a grant he was able to secure.
S8: Yesterday , Governor Gavin Newsom announced a pilot project to use floating trash booms to catch garbage flowing in from Mexico. The governor has proposed $4.7 million to keep those nets in place for the next two storm systems.
S2: The State Water Resources Control Board reported that in addition to installing Romo's floating booms , it will also collect data on rainwater conditions , trash accumulation , and any necessary repairs to the booms , all with the goal of improving trash management and water quality in the Tijuana River. This initiative will be conducted over two storm seasons.
S4: Putting it together hasn't been easy , says Romo , but the success of the Trash Boom project has seen has secured the trust of the state to keep funding it past its 2026 deadline , and has even considered implementing it in other parts of the state , like L.A..
S2: The trash booms will operate until 2027. Romo is currently awaiting a response from the Water Commission regarding an extension to his contract through 2030 , in the hopes this pilot becomes permanent infrastructure.
S4: But Oscar Romo's trash booms isn't the only type of intervention project being implemented in the region. There is similar work being done south of the border aimed at slowing the flow of pollution before it even makes it across.
S2: And exactly what kind of intervention is being implemented across the border.
S4: Trash collection and repurposing , along with river basin surveys and hillside canyon reforestation.
S2: Trash repurposing that is , turning trash into something useful or beautiful isn't necessarily something unique to Tijuana , but it's something that has definitely flourished here.
S4: An example of that is Adela Bonilla of Los Laurel's.
S2: Los Laurel's is a community nestled in the westernmost canyon of the Tijuana watershed , right across the Tijuana estuary and south of the border to Imperial Beach.
S4: There , in Los Laurel's , Adela operates a small scale workshop. Adela , Spanish for Atlas workshop on the way to Los Laurel's. Tijuana's iconic makeshift houses peppered the slopes of the canyon and beneath them informal trash dump sites. Hola.
S7: Hola. Hola.
S4: Hola.
S9: Buenos dias.
S2: This isn't our first visit to Atlas. We were here six years ago when Waylon first introduced us to Adela and her project. Back then , we highlighted how Whelan's nonprofit was helping mobilize the community around trash collection and repurposing.
S4: And Adela was key in that effort.
S2: Adela is a craft master. She makes a living making pinatas from repurposed material , but since then she's moved on to crafting other things.
S4: Like plastic wallets and notebooks.
S2: From outside. Plants of all kinds lined the perimeter of Attila's workshop.
S4: Next to the workshop was a Dallas porch patio. A backlog of industrial sized trash bags full of plastic bottles and water jug caps were lined up next to a conventional kitchen oven , all waiting to be melted.
S10: Aqui en la casa de las Islas. Si porque dia de la.
S2: Her workshop is nicknamed the bottle House because it was built using repurposed plastic bottles filled with plastic debris as a sort of eco brick.
S10: Porque todas las artes plasticas reinas de basrah.
S9: Esto es para estos muros. Si.
S10: Si. Adentro.
S9: Adentro.
S10: I bought the plastic.
S4: And also because tinted glass bottles are embedded in the walls of the workshop , acting like a sort of wallet. It gave the inside of the workshop a warm glow tinted with green , yellow , red and white hues.
S10: The vino de cerveza de tequila. De todo de todo un poco.
S4: It took Adeline her community 26 days to construct the bottle brick workshop.
S2: They used 3638 individual plastic bottles , which were filled with plastic debris and stacked together before being plastered with cement cement.
S10: Principal era fuera con Adobe pero Como con 26 dias nada mas vimos para la construction. Entonces no. No fue posible.
S2: The inside of the workshop was crowded with work equipment , equipment that was donated to her and that she uses to teach others. A couple of heat presses , paper guillotines , a sewing machine and many boxes with some of Adele's work that was ready to be delivered.
S4: She sources the material from the collection efforts of the neighborhood. Her neighbors leave the material they know she needs in front of her porch.
S10: Vecinos in el plastic igual van a la.
S2: She also sources the plastic from maquiladoras or recycling plants every other week.
S10: Boy amaze me , Trigo.
S2: Queen Adela remembers the time before the intervention projects. Trash would pile up on the canal.
S10: See porque todos soy obrero todos Los carros juntas. Otros lados ahi en el canal van els compro la asura. Este arbol y todo eso.
S4: Determined to make a difference , Adela took matters into her own hands. She helped lead brigades focus on trash collection and repurposing in her community. She has lost track of how much trash she's collected.
S10: Nothing there. Pero si fue.
S4: It's just been a lot , she says. Adela had always been trying to find ways to repurpose trash in Los Laurel's , but when she met Waylon and the Four Walls team , that's when she got the support she needed to scale up her operation.
S2: They joined forces to try to clean up Los Angeles by helping folks help themselves.
S4: With the support of Whelan's and other nonprofit organizations. They installed trash and sediment traps in the canal to reduce the flow of debris , the debris that would eventually find its way downstream into the US. After capturing that debris , community members would sort the trash and keep what was suitable for repurposing.
S10: As trial material , la Barlow Lin piano porque aunque lo loves pues se calo viene para poder lo meter a la temperatura.
S4: And the cool thing was that they managed to pay community members for all that work. This was financed by grants and investments procured by Waylon and other nonprofits.
S2: Their efforts were always to mobilize the community to pick up the trash. Repurposing habit.
S10: Yo , tuna ! UN grupo de mujeres. Aqui conmigo. Este fueron Quincy , pero se for un poco adela.
S4: Workshop used to have more community members involved. At one point her workshop was 15 women strong.
S2: But those helping hands trickled away over the last years.
S10: No queremos trabajar. Pero aqui es Ganassi si no no ganas.
S2: Adela mentioned the need for a consistent revenue stream for these women to continue working , which poses significant challenge for her and Whalen in retaining participants.
S4: According to Adela , you only get what you can sell.
S10: Pero si , por ejemplo arriba hace pinatas cuando no sabia said.
S2: In hindsight , some of the women picked up the craft and are now selling their own creations like pinatas.
S10: This is me gusta me gusta la gente. Brenda. No se no quiero ser la loca.
S2: Today , Adele and her family managed the workshop , supported by Waylon and various other nonprofits that commissioned her crafts. Despite the challenges that ultimately hindered the operation , Adela couldn't scale her initiative without the support of Waylon Madsen and Four Walls. They've been involved with La Taylor's and other projects in Los Loretta's community.
S4: The impact Adela has made in her community is difficult to measure , as many she mentored have either moved away or left to pursue more stable income sources. Nonetheless , the hard work has completely transformed the community since they began what was once a dumpsite at the intersection of the canal and her street is now a small park with green spaces.
S10: Even Kasparov was.
S4: Assured that new structures such as park benches are being planned using her expertise in trash repurposing. Today , Adela continues to welcome those interested in learning the craft , offering a potential new livelihood.
S2: More than a decade after its construction , Avila's workshop still stands strong beside the mountain slope as a remarkable reminder of how community can coalesce around trash , repurposing.
S4: And whatever effort happens at the source upstream. For instance , in Los Laurel's benefits communities downstream , north of the border. And that's exactly why Lynn's approach.
S2: Six years after our first visit. Pollution across the border continues. This month , December 2025 , the U.S. and Mexico signed a new agreement aimed at addressing the sewage crisis.
S4: But for years , nonprofits like Wayland have been doing much of the groundwork. We wanted to check back in with him to see where those efforts stand.
S11: How's it going , brother ? Instead of this. How are you doing , buddy ? I've been good. How about yourself ? You're good man.
S2: Wayland invited us on a ground tour of the watershed , including some old stomping grounds of Whelan's in Los Laurel's. Julio tagged along for the ride.
S12: Well , Laurel's is it gets a lot of attention because it's proximity to the the tidal wetlands , which are super valuable for environmental services. And then it's also a place where urban sprawl is easily documented.
S4: Waylon explained that the settlement has developed over the past 15 to 30 years , growing from a small , informal community of hundreds to nearly 100,000 people. Residing in just one canyon.
S12: Are like a microcosm of all the other subbasins that are contributing to this problem.
S2: Anyways , he perceives what happens in Los Laurel's as an example of what takes place in other parts of the watershed that have uncontrolled trash problems and erosion of soil.
S12: We created a hydro financial model that we really saw as like a tool to really share with downstream beneficiaries the opportunity to invest in Mexico at the source and not have to deal with the the long term mitigation of of the transboundary sediment and solid waste.
S2: Whalen suggests that California could save significantly by implementing proactive solutions south of the border , requiring less investment than current projects like Oscar Ramos. Although he admits this is easier said than done.
S12: The Municipality of Tijuana manages the stormwater , but the state manages the wastewater. And in California , we have so many different boundaries just within the Tijuana River valley that you have California state parks , you have the county. You have the city. You have federal partners.
S2: Whelan's new role nowadays is to smoothen the communications between all these agencies that don't see eye to eye all the time.
S12: It's hard to get consensus out of all those groups to really focus on projects that are going to be beneficial.
S2: He and his nonprofit mobilize the community around this approach. 10 to 15 years ago , they installed trash barriers , sediment traps , and energized trash collection around repurposing waste.
S4: Creating environmental solutions for the community with the community solutions that affects what happens north of the border or downstream of the river.
S12: I think we've been developing it since 2015 , but we didn't really have the hydro financial modeling. Done.
S1: Done.
S12: Until maybe 2017 , 2018. And what that did was kind of prove our concept that depending on what interventions are done upstream , it will have a financial reward downstream. To what varying degree depends on the intervention. Our models show that a diversified portfolio of interventions is actually the best , so that you can wean out which one works the best and then reinvest in what does.
S4: Waylon started in Las Laurel's 15 years ago. He has now expanded his operation to a bigger basin in Matador Canyon , east of Los Laurels.
S12: It's definitely allowed us to get more grants because we are expanding something that already has worked. And most investors that we we have spoken to want to do a watershed wide. They don't want to do they don't want to. If they're going to put that much , you know , collateral on the line , they want to do it at a much bigger level. They don't want to just do it in one little sub basin. They want to have a Tijuana River watershed wide approach. So now we're in the process of building that scale up. And Montrose is a huge part of that.
S4: Julia and Waylon stopped at Matador Canyon to collect a memory card of a camera that he and his partner , Napo , installed to monitor the basin level in real time security.
S12: It's actually up on that pole over there.
S2: Waylon and Julio walked down the canyon towards a six meter tall pole that had one of their cameras pointed towards the river.
S12: And so now , at the push of a button , Napo can pull up this camera. And then during rain events , we can plug that into some machine learning and actually quantify some of the , uh , the , the data that's necessary to create a hydraulic model.
S2: As Waylon and Julio were walking towards the pole , they were surprised by a change in scenery.
S12: That's the pole you're talking about right there. Yeah. Okay. Oh , wow. I just rode it out a lot. Whoa. So. Wow. So just in the last few rains , it's changed a lot.
S2: A significant amount of debris accumulated on the riverbank after a section of the slope collapsed due to heavy rains.
S12: Where is the camera ? Napa. I don't see it there. I hope it's okay. But it's supposed to be on top of the hair. Probably angled down. Uh , I think we might have got yelling , so I'm going to call them right now. I'm gonna send them a I'm gonna send him a sad pole.
S4: He texted his collaborator in Napa with the sad news.
S12: Oh , man. That sucks. Where's our camera , buddy ? Well , you know , it's only like our 1500 camera. We've lost.
S2: Bummed out , but not deterred. Willem broke down the importance of having those intervention points.
S12: A big intervention that we're promoting and endorsing is having these systems , at least in between opportunities where we can put sediment basins and sediment capture systems and trash capture systems , and we can slow down the velocity of the stream flow. We're going to have to connect everything and connect it to interventions that will be able to slow the water down and and capture some of this stuff.
S4: So another camera would have to be installed.
S12: You know , the water board is really pleased with that. That trash boom. So , Oscar Romo's dressing room. Oh , yeah , we were talking about. I did see some videos about that. Yeah , yeah , they're saying that I caught in this last rains , like 50 tons of trash. Yeah.
S4: For Waylon. Oscar Romo success helps to bring more spotlight to this cross-border problem.
S2: Waylon is advocating for the same level of intervention at The Source in Tijuana.
S4: Currently , he is working on developing a model to present to agencies and investors aiming to support interventions on the scale of Oscar Ramos projects.
S12: But how do we how do we get more ? How do we keep going up further into the watershed rather than still dealing with it ? The channel I'm not saying that it doesn't need to be done.
S2:
S4: You are listening to. Port of entry.
S12: Bueno , Bueno. Como ? Estamos aqui en el laurel. Sarita.
S13: Sarita. Vamos.
S4: Our last stop was a nursery called La Somites.
S2: Spanish for the little ants.
S12: I'm gonna meet my Grignon. Yeah , my angry old man. Yeah , he didn't sound too thrilled. He's just a grumpy old bastard , man. I love him to death.
S4: From inside the property came out Whelan's grumpy old man , George Ibanez.
S2: Waylon used to live with George back in the day when he was building these brick and mortar community projects.
S14: This is Julio. Julio. Jorge.
S13: Amigo de Recuerdo. Hita y Alan. Hermanos de trabajo. Con el trabajar con con Alan OReilly. Yeah. Come on , son me cousin. Look at this little , little fuzz on the face. Oh.
S2: It didn't take that long before their love language took center stage hazing. They walked through George's nursery. The area looked a bit rundown , but well kept.
S15: Estamos Ensenada aqui a Tijuana's q q.
S4: Atiba George has been working on the nursery for over 20 years.
S2: George's approach is twofold. First , teaching the community and the newer generations to appreciate the native plants , and the second to help fight erosion through reforestation of the hillsides. Or , as Waylon puts it , hill slope stabilization.
S15: Look at La Plata native también es el Rey Zadora para abajo.
S4: George says that native plants laid their roots deeper in their attempt to find water.
S15: Busca el agua bajo cuando uab largo abajo y a reservoir.
S2: As a result , they grip the land and prevent landslides during rainy seasons.
S15: Unas manos vamos a poner por cuadros y también Como unas cinco también.
S4: Debris forest at 32 blocks or about two acres on the laurel's hillsides and the hillsides next to LA Florals.
S2: With the hillside reforestation , the topsoil doesn't erode as easy during the rains.
S4: With plants and trees , the hills are able to absorb the water and slow down the downpour of rain from the hill to keep the dirt in place.
S2: The idea being that if you slow down the flow of water , you slow down the flow of pollution.
S4: With George's help , they were able to plant hundreds of native plants that made the hillsides of Los Laurel's less susceptible to landslides.
S15: Palo Verde Express de Tecate. Seriously ? Tenemos la yucca.
S2: Some examples of those native plants are yucca , jojoba , laurel , sumac , and nopal , among others.
S4: Whalen was following up on a point when he was blindsided by George.
S12: Single use plastics in particular. We're trying to figure out circular economy goals. Yeah , well , he's not here to deal with it. It's only our problem now.
S4: You see , Whalen wasn't the only crazy gringo trying to create a positive impact in Los Laurel's.
S2: He had a partner in crime.
S4: Stephen Wright.
S2: His late star brother , with whom he shared dreams , outlooks on life and with whom he founded Four Walls and started this adventure in Los Laurel's 15 years ago.
S12: You can ask him about Steve.
S13: He , uh. Steve was.
S12: His adopted nephew as well.
S2: Back when we were here six years ago , Stephen led the tour and Waylon kind of sat in the passenger seat.
S15: Of hombres , muchacho.
S4: George remembers Steve fondly. He was the one who kept Waylon on his toes , pulling his ears when needed. Mentions George.
S13: Good dude.
S15: Horn ASI Como el Steven. Bueno Como Los dos , Los dos.
S2: Waylon and Steven were always together. George shared as he pointed to one of the walls next to the nursery where Steven was immortalized in a mural with his daughter. In.
S15: In. Law.
S4: Steven passed away in 2022 , leaving behind family , friends and loved ones.
S2: And also some stuff for Waylon to remember him fondly.
S12: So when we first built the dry toilet here , we were living here and using it. And it was it was full and we were both wrapping up our stuff. We were both heading our separate ways , and he just was like , all right , Sia. And all Right is like , you got to clean out the bathroom before you guys go. So he left me with literally a box of shit and a bunch of piss. And I just remember being so infuriated with him , I'm like , oh , you left at a perfect time. You didn't even help me with cleaning out the bathroom. But , uh.
S4: George remembers when they first got to the community , they didn't speak any Spanish. He shared that Steven picked up the language quicker than Waylon did.
S12: And he did. He had the golden tongue to. He could always. He could always speak. And in either language. He was very articulate and very.
S2: George would tell us how Steven would bring surfers down on surfing trips.
S15: Pero primero.
S2: Steven would make it a ritual to stop at George's Nursery to help with any project that was being worked on.
S4: These surfers would help out and make a generous donation to the nursery and sometimes to horror.
S2: Julia had to ask , what did Weyland bring ? No.
S15:
S4: Just nothing. Only work.
S2: Before helping to build Adele's workshop , Stephen and Waylon helped prop up termites from there. The community took them in.
S12: It is gorgeous here , though. I mean , I love it for the place , man. It's like there's no other place like this. You know , I could do this anywhere else , but why ? I love it here.
S4: The projects in Los Laurel's stand as a testament to the brotherly bond between Stephen and Weyland , a connection remembered by the community into which they poured so much of themselves.
S2: Their timeless bond is evident in the enduring structures maintained by stewards like Adela and George.
S12: So like they became family. And I just , uh , they supported all of our craziness. Like we were just the crazy gringos. Nobody knew why we were down here. And then eventually it just became like we all , we all have a shared purpose. And you were able to support each other in our work. You know.
S2: Tackling the issues of cross-border pollution may seem like an insurmountable challenge. However , the connections and community building efforts developed along the way make the task less daunting.
S4: Without the dedicated work of Waylon , Stephen , Adela , and George , those laurels would look entirely different and the estuary downstream would be at risk.
S2: Without Oscar Ramos project , even more trash would find its way into the ocean.
S4: They have successfully demonstrated to the government on both sides that the projects are effective and urgently need to be supported and expanded.
S2: As things were winding down , Julio asked Waylon about Steven.
S12: You know , we were star brothers. So it was like. Like we met 20 years ago on a rugby pitch in Riverside. Around the fact that we had the same birthday , same year. But he , uh , he was the funniest , most authentic human being I've ever met in my life. All the growth that we had as individuals and as an organization , it's I'm seeing it in legislation. I'm seeing it in binational collaboration and coordination. I'm seeing it in the relationships that , you know , we formed 15 years ago , uh , coming to light around people and that that we , you know , that we that we connected with when we first started. And now we're crossing paths in different professional positions. And it's like the synergy and the magic continues. Have you asked yourself how to honor his legacy ? It's just. It's just loving his kids , bro. It's like making sure that our families grow together and making sure that , uh , like , I stay true to myself. Steve always had my back. He always , uh. He always had more faith in me than I had in myself. It wasn't until he passed , I think I was able to truly accept not only the legacy that we created together , but the legacy that he , as a man , uh , created in his community and in this region. And now , like , here we are , you know , still having , like , all this momentum around our work. And it's it's like I'm still watering the seeds that we planted. So it's , uh. It's an honor. It's an honor to continue the legacy and , uh , watch his kids grow and watch our work grow as well.
S4: Steven's legacy is intricately woven into every gully , riverbank , and basin where he and Waylon cared to make a difference.
S2: With heartfelt dedication , Waylon ensures that the same care and love that defined his friendship with Steven are infused into every project , every intervention , and every community effort he undertakes in the Tijuana San Diego watershed. This episode is dedicated to the loving memory of Steven Wright.
S4: This episode of Port of Entry was written and produced by Julio Cesar Ortiz Franco.
S2: Adriana Villalobos technical producer and sound designer.
S4: Ben Lusk is our media production specialist.
S2: This episode was edited by Elizabeth Hames and Elma Gonzalez Lima Brandao.
S4: Lisa Jane Morissette is director of audio programming and operations.
S2: For those of you that don't know , when I'm not hosting the show , I play in a cross-border band called Terlingua , and coincidentally , we just released an album called Basara Trash. It's all about taking the trash out of your life from your emotions , your relationships , metaphorically and literally. Some of that music is played in this episode , so if you like it , go ahead and look up Terlingua everywhere you listen to music.
S4: Soy yo soy Natalie Gonzalez.
S16: No nos vemos pronto.
