Last week on Jan. 25, Commissioner of the U.S. Section International Boundary & Water Commission (IBWC) Dr. Maria Elena Giner and Mexican Section IBWC counterpart Commissioner Resendez, met with representatives of the Comision Estatal de Servicios Publicos de Tijuana (CESPT), the wastewater provider in Tijuana.
The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the status of flows within the San Diego-Tijuana wastewater infrastructure system.
2023 had record rainfalls that included Tropical Storm Hilary and past experience and observations have shown that impacts from rains within the Tijuana River watershed can last much longer than the rain events themselves.
This has contributed to the high and continued transboundary flows in the Tijuana River and has also exacerbated the flow effects of the PB1A pipeline break.
CESPT has assured the IBWC that the pipeline PB1A has been repaired.
However, they also reported that due to ongoing new highway construction adjacent to pipelines PB1A and PB1B, these pipelines have been taken out of service and/or not operated at full capacity.
This is expected to be resolved by February and March 2024, at which point it is expected that transboundary flows and flows to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP) will return to pre-2022 levels.
It was decided to implement a Wastewater Mass Balance Plan and flow monitoring and reporting program that will provide an accurate accounting of flows into the wastewater system as well as identify new sources of flows.
Accuracy of flows through mass balance calculations will provide the proper accounting of flows and allow for informed decisions on short- and long-term management of transboundary flows.
The IBWC and CESPT also agreed to continue monitoring the flow of the Tijuana River and canyons monthly and there will be regular meetings between the U.S. Consulate and State of Baja California officials to monitor progress of the Minute 328 projects.
The CESPT PB1 pump station rehabilitation project, which is scheduled to go out to bid in February 2024, will also contribute to this effort.
The restoration of manageable wastewater flows, in particular the reduction and elimination of transboundary flows at the Tijuana River and return of flows to the SBIWTP within NPDES permit limits, remains a top priority for the IBWC.
This story was generated with assistance from an automated news reporting system and was reviewed by a member of our publication.
