$300 Million In Cross-Border Wastewater Projects Approved For Design In U.S. And Mexico
Following an agreement between environmental regulators, one of the country’s most confounding sources of wastewater issues is closer than ever to being addressed with some $300 million in new projects between the U.S. and Mexico moving forward.
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. branch of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) announced … that they had signed a record of decision finalizing the environmental review for transboundary pollution mitigation projects,” The Hill reported. “The agreement now allows the EPA and the IBWC — a U.S.-Mexican entity that oversees shared water sources — to move on to the design phase of specific sanitation initiatives included in previous negotiations.”
With the agreement in place, the agencies will move forward on wastewater projects on the border between San Diego and Tijuana with about $300 million that has been appropriated by Congress.
“Among the projects are the expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant on the U.S. side of the border, a new treatment plant in Tijuana and the repair of several sewage pipes in the city of Tijuana,” according to The Hill.
The region’s wastewater problems and the delicate relationship between the international partners has been a focus of regulators for years, with both sides beginning to work together on solutions in 2020 and the EPA increasing its push for fixes following widespread sewage discharges from Mexico into California in 2021.
As such, any progress toward infrastructure solutions to the problems will certainly be welcomed by residents of California. Following a particularly wet winter and increased sewage coming from Tijuana, cities in San Diego County are watching as their beaches are flooded with untreated wastewater.
“Imperial Beach has been shut down all year,” FOX 5 San Diego reported. “The city closed the beach because of sewage and pollution coming from the Tijuana River … In a beach report card by environmental nonprofit Heal The Bay, for 2022 to 2023, increased rainfall in California accounted for 45 million gallons of sewage spill into the ocean.”
With major wastewater projects on the border now ready for design, residents in both countries are surely hoping for a cleaner future.
To read more about how wastewater facilities around the world deal with sewage overflows, visit Water Online’s Stormwater Management Solutions Center.