The Coronado City Council is considering amending the city’s resolution on the sewage crisis, using language simlar to Imperial Beach’s recent call in urging the Trump administration to restrict border traffic and withhold water exports to Tijuana until Mexico takes action to stem the flow of sewage contaminating south San Diego beaches.
At least some Coronado council members believe it is time to put drastic pressure on Mexico to clean up its sewage mess.
I feel like our country, meaning our federal government, has been far, far, too passive in dealing with Mexico on this … Mexico, day after day after day, creates this crisis for us.
Council member Mark Fleming
“I feel like our country, meaning our federal government, has been far, far too passive in dealing with Mexico on this,” Council member Mark Fleming said. “Mexico, day after day after day, creates this crisis for us.”
Fleming revealed that he thinks people are too hesitant to talk about more extreme actions that could be taken against the border country. And he is not alone in this.
“A lot of the levers that the federal government’s looking at and some of the ones mentioned … are punitive and potential strict levers to enforce and ensure Mexico’s accountable for working and stopping the sewage and doing the projects they say they would do,” Coronado Mayor John Duncan said.
The mayor said he’s been in contact with the new commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), Chad McIntosh, along with the EPA and with the new presidential administration.
An executive order regarding solutions to the trans-border sewage crisis is under consideration at the White House … Of course, it remains to be seen if the president will ultimately decide to issue an executive order.
Coronado Mayor John Duncan
“An executive order regarding solutions to the trans-border sewage crisis is under consideration at the White House,” Duncan said. “Of course, it remains to be seen if the president will ultimately decide to issue an executive order.”
The Coronado News did not hear back from the White House on deadline about a potential executive order.
Mexican officials also did not respond on deadline about the implications of an executive order.
Still more sewage
Following the completion of the San Antonio de los Buenos (SAB) Wastewater Treatment Plant in Punta Bandera, Mexico in April, eyes on the Tijuana sewage crisis have only increased.
Imperial Beach council members passed a resolution in mid-April to prioritize enhanced federal and state actions in the Tijuana sewage crisis. Imperial Beach council member Mitch McKay joined the Coronado City Council meeting on May 6 to discuss their resolution.
Imperial Beach’s resolution urges federal enforcement of binational agreements with Mexico. In addition to cutting off potable water exports and restricting border crossings, the city called for the IBWC to accelerate the Tijuana River Diversion project and permanent trash capture system, to treat transboundary flows in the river.
Coronado council members all voted for city staff to return at a future meeting with an amended resolution declaring a local emergency relating to the cross border water quality with language similar to the one from Imperial Beach.
For Coronado Mayor John Duncan, the city’s main focus boils down to one key question: Rather, what is a global solution for treating the excess sewage that will still make its way to the Pacific Ocean, even after the plants on both sides of the border are complete?
On the U.S. side, funding has been received for the rehabilitation and expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant. It will have a progressive design-build plan with a completion timeline of five years.
The plant will remain open while the expansion is underway, but the goal is to have a daily treatment capacity of 50 million gallons, with up to 75 million gallons during peak flows. Right now, the South Bay plant only treats 25 million gallons per day.
With its updates, the San Antonio de los Buenos plant is treating around 18 million gallons per day – less than half of the volume of sewage that is coming through. There is a total of around 40-45 million gallons of raw sewage per day entering the plant.
There is a “known and monitored, you know, 28, 24, 22 extra million gallons per day that is being dumped into the ocean already, even with their plant operating at 18 million gallons per day,” Duncan explained.
Mexico is also in the process of fixing the international collector pipe, a massive pipeline responsible for carrying the 40-45 million gallons of sewage per day from Tijuana to the treatment plant, and that is dumping the untreated effluent into the ocean.
