Promises, Promises
The Coronado News as part of its year-long investigation spent time in Tijuana to see how residents there deal with the sewage crisis.
TIJUANA, Mexico – It’s late November and inside a Mariscos restaurant beside the Malecón of Playas de Tijuana, or the famous boardwalk bordering the US-Mexico fence limits, is a group of 20 or so locals gathering to discuss the ongoing binational sewage water crisis.
Their special guest speaker is Laura Silvan, a longtime environmentalist and founder of Proyecto Fronterizo de Educación Ambiental.
Grupo Madrugadores de Playas de Tijuana A.C. kicks off their last weekly meeting of the month with attendees singing in unison their hymn and declaring a shared mission: “Queremos una ciudad sana y alegre en la que se mantenga constantemente el orgullo de radicar en ella.” [We want a healthy and happy city in which the pride of living in it is consistently maintained.]
This group of Mexican citizens, who deeply love their country and community, have the same wants – a clean, Pacific Ocean that’s not polluted from sewage – as residents in Coronado and Imperial Beach.
The Coronado News, as part of its ongoing investigation into the Tijuana sewage crisis, spent two days in Tijuana to learn from the group and give a snapshot into the lives of individuals who live about 30 minutes across the border who are severely affected by an environmental crisis that has existed since the Great Depression.
While locals and tourists have become severely ill and complained about closed beaches in Coronado and Imperial Beach because of the sewage flowing from Tijuana, they — in nearly all cases — at least have running water and sewer pipes connected to their homes.
That isn’t the case in Tijuana.
And some have gone without running water for a quarter century.
Life in Los Laureles
Two miles east of Playas through a one-way mud street that enters Los Laureles one can find multiple homes lacking access to several public service utilities with scarce water and no connection to the sewer pipes.
“That canyon is one of the biggest canyons…the type of development that happens in them is pretty much the same wherever you go, it’s kind of haphazard, usually not well financed,” Playas resident Kim Johnson tells The Coronado News.
These establishments are considered unofficial homes along canyons (or “los cañones”) that have become additions to neighborhoods (or “colonias”).
“The people just build their homes,” says Johnson. “Some houses are real nice and some houses are very poorly built, and all of them have to deal with issues of runoff water due to rain, the water supply and sometimes they live there years before they have lighting.”
Inside a converted space called Iglesia Rio de Dios (“Pastora”) María del Rosario Godínez García leads a Christian church that she also uses as a hostel and rehab center for mothers, migrants and other houseless newcomers who need support.
According to Godínez García, houses found on the northern end of her street, between Calle 18 de Marzo and Anexa Los Laureles, do not have running water and are not connected to the sewerage system.
Without water for more than 25 years
That is the case for Jose Rico, Luz Elena Garcia, and Lilia Garcia Sanchez, all of whom have lived without water for more than 25 years.
“We struggle and it would be better if we had clean and running water,” Rico told The Coronado News. “We grab water from a pipe that’s by the tubes, we’ve always grabbed from there.”
Families in Los Laureles like Armando Torres Garcia have tap water meanwhile some neighbors do not. Staff photo by Julieta Soto. 
Neighbors in Los Laureles connect to water pipes on a weekly basis. Staff photo by Madeline Yang. 
Lilia Garcia Sanchez uses recycled water from her laundry to flush her toilet. Staff photo by Madeline Yang 
Families who lack water across one neighborhood in Tijuana use multiple buckets to store water. Staff photo by Madeline Yang.
Every week these affected residents in Los Laureles need to refill barrels and other buckets to use for everyday necessities like cooking, laundry, and showering. Then they recycle this water to flush their toilets.
“We have been requesting water service for a long time… water, electricity and all that is very necessary.”
Luz Elena Garcia, Los Laureles resident for 28 years
“We have been requesting water service for a long time, but for some reason the supervisors come and …leave us in a state of uncertainty,” Garcia said of city officials. “We need the service because it is a lot of trouble to have to go around struggling with water barrels to use for our bathrooms, for dishes and for everything. We would appreciate it if there is any way we could receive support… water, electricity and all that is very necessary.”
Open sewers
Apart from recycling clean water for secondary use, Garcia Sanchez also said that the overflow of rain water causes street flooding and that open sewers with missing lids that often get stolen force her and other neighbors to stay indoors for days at a time.
“You cannot leave your house when it rains,” said Garcia Sanchez.
Although a lack of public services is among the biggest issues found on this street, parishioner Martha del Carmen Hernandez Romero said it is also a hub for crime-related activities.
According to Hernandez Romero, shootings and drive-bys occur often averaging four to five deaths per week.
“At night it looks like a wolf cave. It’s pitch dark…I come home from work and I go inside, and I don’t want to come back out.”
Tijuana resident Garcia Sanchez
“We didn’t have public service for electricity either…my sister put a street lamp here and another one there, because here at night it looks like a wolf cave, it’s pitch dark,” added Garcia. “We live in a neighborhood that is too dangerous and with that darkness, one is afraid to enter their houses at night. I come home from work and I go inside, and I don’t want to come back out.”
When inquired about the lack of water and sewer connections in Los Laureles, a CESPT or State Commission of Public Services of Tijuana communications representative said there are plans to expand to canyon neighborhoods while the city continues to rapidly grow.
The representative also said that throughout 2023, the commision has been dedicated to providing services to eight locations across Tijuana and Rosarito.
This month Jesús García Castro became Director General of Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana (CESPT), taking over for Víctor Daniel Amador Barragán, who moved to become Secretary for the Water Management, Treatment and Protection Agency for the State of Baja California (SEPROA).
Godínez García – frustrated with the lack of help from CESPT – calls upon God for a miracle to bring water for her church center and encourages families like Garcia’s to do the same.
The city’s water issues, according to CESPT, extend to the homes that are not regulated but remain a very important issue. The official added the governmental organization works 24/7 on what remains a problem due to the overly abundant population.
Civic leadership
At the a Mariscos restaurant, a two-hour meeting that integrates breakfast, Silvan and Grupo Madrugadores includes a hearty discussion about the history of environmentalism, the impact of pollution and water contamination, and the importance of civic participation.
Silvan, who has dedicated more than 30 years to the non-profit currently working on water sampling results across Tijuana and Rosarito beaches, talks about the importance of creating environmentally friendly products and services.
“It’s important that we recognize the footprint we leave in our community over time,” said Silvan.
Silvan also encourages the group to focus on the population and commercial waste that has caused a binational crisis affecting communities in Tijuana and coastlines across San Diego County.
“Every day we all become more aware, more educated in our behavior and more participative in solving the environmental problems of this looming climate crisis.”
Laura Silvan, Environmentalist
“There is still a lot to do, but it is worthwhile to continue insisting on a strong environmental legal framework and to promote citizen participation so that every day we all become more aware, more educated in our behavior and more participative in solving the environmental problems of this looming climate crisis,” added Silvan in closing remarks.
