The U.S. head of the International Boundary and Water Commission, Maria-Elena Giner, said her agency is working to reduce the transborder flow of sewage from Tijuana by August to a level complying with federal standards.
“We have a very debilitated plant and in the last 18 months we’ve redirected about $30 million of our funding into this plant to do with the repairs in order to meet our compliance requirements,” said Giner during a San Diego Citizens Forum meeting on July 10 at the Coronado Community Center.
Binational updates
Last month, Giner was joined by local stakeholders — including Coronado Councilmember John Duncan — in a visit to Tijuana for a meeting about construction updates on the rehabilitation of Mexico’s San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The treatment plant in Mexico is scheduled for completion by September and expected to treat 18 million gallons per day.
Duncan told The Coronado News afterward that he is concerned about “bizarrely high flows in the Tijuana River coming to the (USIBWC) plant” despite a lack of rainfall.
He said Mexican officials on June 20 stated they didn’t know why the flows are so high, but believed the water was clean. However, when asked about the source of the flow, Duncan said, they replied that they did not know – which caused him to question the water’s cleanliness.
““We were pressing the Mexican officials on why the flows are so high…”
John Duncan, Coronado councilman
“We were pressing the Mexican officials on why the flows are so high” during the dry season, added Duncan. “They’re investigating why that is, but nobody knows. So that’s a really big concern for the IBWC and for Coronado and Imperial Beach.”
Last week, the Commission reported that excessive flows in the Tijuana River were a mixture of wastewater, treated water, potable water and groundwater. According to the release, the river had a seven-day average flow of 45 million gallons per day (mgd) and flows to the SBIWTP had a seven-day average of 19 mgd.
Plant recovery continues
At the July 10 meeting, Morgan Rogers, the Commission’s area operations manager, gave a presentation about major component repairs at the plant to comply with a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
According to Rogers, after tropical storm Hilary, excessive river flows and accumulated trash left the plant with only one of six influent pumps functioning to push Tijuana wastewater through the primary and secondary treatment.
“One thing we did learn from [tropical storm] Hillary was that we must have spare pumps, motors on hand…”
Morgan Rogers, U.S. International Boundary & Water Commission San Diego Field Office Area Operations Manager
“Today we have five operational pumps,” said Rogers. “One thing we did learn from [tropical storm] Hillary was that we must have spare pumps, motors on hand, so when we had these accidents, we can just swap it out very quickly.”
Rogers said primary sedimentation tanks (PST) — where wastewater goes for a first level of treatment — are key toward getting back into compliance. All five of those were rendered inoperable in March 2023 because a pipeline broke in Mexico.
“Today we have two PSTs online and we should have a third one online end of next week,” he added. “That’s all we need to properly treat the wastewater…We’ll have all five PSTs operational in September, which will give us two redundant tanks.”
Roger’s presentation materials and discourse detailed other projects scheduled for completion as early as this summer and into the start of 2025.
Regarding the expansion of the plant, to ultimately treat a total of 75 mgd, Rogers said that project will not be completed for at least two years, and maybe up to five years depending on “funding and contractor.”
That statement was met with a frustrated outcry from local residents.
“I’ll have to move out of Coronado if I want to swim in the ocean.”
“If this is going to take the next three to five years, I’ll have to move out of Coronado if I want to swim in the ocean. Some friends already have,” said Judy Collins, a decadeslong resident of the community.
Mental health concerns amid a sewage crisis
Last month, San Diego County committed to working alongside a local task force led by the mayor of Imperial Beach, Paloma Aguirre, to investigate whether airborne pathogens from Tijuana sewage are causing illnesses in Imperial Beach and the South Bay area.
Marvel Harrison, a South Bay psychologist who is part of Aguirre’s task force, said she is worried about more than the physical impact of polluted air and water on community members.
“I’m very concerned about the mental health impacts of the stress and anxiety and hence depression that occurs,” said Harrison. “People are just, – they’re frustrated, they’re angry, they’re feeling let down and to the point of experiencing hopelessness like this is never going to change.”
For this reason, Harrison and Imperial Beach resident Millie Locke have launched a social media platform called IB Empowered on Instagram and TikTok to give local people a forum with the underlying goal of getting a state of emergency declared.
“Through radical hope, I believe that the sewage crisis will be remedied.”
Millie Locke, Imperial Beach resident
Locke spoke of success through “the belief that things will get better, even if you can’t possibly see how they will… why it matters to you is far more important than how it’ll be done,” she added. “Through radical hope, I believe that the sewage crisis will be remedied.”
