Coronado Mayor John Duncan expressed concern about a report that Mexico may have installed the wrong pumps at the San Antonio de los Buenos (SAB) wastewater treatment plant in Tijuana, further delaying efforts to stanch coastal sewage pollution.
“It is essential that the Mexico sewage treatment plant come online as soon as possible to remedy the flows that will not be treated at the plant on our side of the border,” Duncan said in a statement. “The success of the Mexico plant will have a large impact on whether Coronado beaches are clean and open this summer. It is a major factor in the quality of life for Coronado and all of the Southbay.”
According to a Feb. 19 Border Report article, an unidentified source familiar with the plant’s design said water pumps were installed instead of pumps required for processing wastewater containing mud, thick fluids and sediment.
The plant’s ability to process raw sewage will be ineffective until these flaws are corrected, the article added, and that process could take months.
Maria-Elena Giner, Commissioner of the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC), said the news report triggered inquiries south of the border.
“The USIBWC, along with the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, immediately reached out to Mexican officials for additional information,” Giner said on Feb. 25. “They advised us that the article is not accurate. However, my staff and I are requesting more details to get a better idea of the situation at SAB. I will share with you what we learn as soon as we have more information.”
Testing, stabilizing the SAB plant
The Coronado News was unable to independently verify whether or not the correct pumps were installed.
Mexican authorities have said pumping equipment for the new San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant has been installed in accordance with the executive project, which will ensure the correct operation of the plant, and is already in its testing and stabilization phase, said Manuel Morales, secretary for the Mexican Section of the IBWC known as CILA.
The assertion that there is a problem with such equipment, or that it could cause further delays in the opening of the plant, is unknown, Morales added.
The Mexican treatment facility south of Tijuana has been inoperative for years. In February, Giner announced construction at the plant had been completed and it was being tested and stabilized so that Mexico could have full operation of the plant by March.
The plant, whose construction is being supervised by the state of Baja California and SEDENA, Mexico’s defense secretary, is expected to treat 17 million gallons per day of untreated sewage.
Jesús García Castro, director of the Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana (CESPT), the wastewater provider in Tijuana, also said treatment at the plant could begin as early as March, according to an article published by ZETA on Feb. 23.
“I am in regular contact with the Commissioner of the IBWC to ensure we receive accurate information and that the opening of the Mexico plant is not delayed,” Duncan said.
Phased project in Mexico
Giner also gave an update on construction of a new international collector in Mexico, one of the projects identified in Minute 328.
Minute 328 is a binational agreement signed by the U.S. and Mexican federal agencies in 2022 as a commitment to reduce transboundary wastewater in the Tijuana River watershed and Pacific Ocean through a suite of infrastructure projects on both sides of the border.
Currently, the collector manages average flows of 32 million gallons per day, but portions of it are aged and in disrepair.
The project is intended to increase capacity to approximately 58 million gallons per day, reducing discharges of untreated wastewater into the Tijuana River, according to the IBWC.
“Getting the new international collector in operation as soon as possible is a crucial milestone and will bring more resiliency to the sewage infrastructure in Tijuana,” said Giner.
U.S. agencies urged Mexico to develop a bypass solution to avoid a discharge of approximately 25 to 30 million gallons per day of wastewater into the river during the construction project.
According to Giner, the work on the collector now will be completed in two successive phases that, combined, will take about a month.
“The preliminary work on Phase 1 has begun, with the work on the international collector and bypass set to begin by the end of this week,” added Giner in an announcement on Feb. 25.
