US, Mexico Reach Agreement to Fix Tijuana River Sewage Crisis: EPA

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agreement sets the ‘framework for tremendous steps to be made.’

Trash lines the beaches near the Tijuana River mouth outside of San Diego, Calif., on Sept. 19, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The Trump administration has signed a new binational agreement with Mexico, advancing efforts to solve a decades-long sewage crisis plaguing residents both north and south of the transnational Tijuana River.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Dec. 15 that the United States and Mexico have signed a “historic new agreement” called Minute 333. The two nations agreed to additional actions that the EPA said will “progress to permanently and urgently end the decades-long Tijuana River sewage crisis.”

The majority of the 120-mile Tijuana River lies south of the U.S.–Mexico border in the Mexican state of Baja California. Only the last five miles are on the U.S. side of the border, flowing to San Diego and emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The San Diego City Council first declared a state of emergency because of the pollution—ranging from raw sewage to industrial runoff—in 1993.

Under the new agreement, Mexico will develop a water infrastructure plan for Tijuana within six months, create plans to ensure the proper operation and maintenance of critical systems, and determine the feasibility of a new ocean outfall for the San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Plant, as well as expand the plant’s capacity by at least 25 million gallons per day (MGD).

The plant is currently operational after being shut down because of long-term disrepair from 2015 until early 2025. It currently has a capacity of 18 MGD, or about 800 liters per second, but receives 40–45 MGD, leading to sewage overflows, according to the EPA.

All plans are to account for future population growth in Tijuana, a key component that was missing from previous agreements made before the Trump administration was in office, the EPA said.

Other actions include Mexico’s agreement to construct a sediment basin near the international boundary at Matadero Canyon, also known as Smuggler’s Gulch, before the 2026–2027 rainy season, and a Tecolote-La Gloria Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tijuana, which is five miles south of the U.S.–Mexico border, by December 2028. The plant will have a capacity of 3 MGD and treat wastewater that is currently flowing untreated into the Pacific Ocean in Mexico, causing pollution issues on both sides of the border.

Across the region, deterioration of Tijuana’s water treatment infrastructure, compounded by the city’s fast-growing population, has created a health crisis in recent years. In 2015, Mexico’s San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Facility broke down, which led to the daily release of millions of gallons of untreated sewage, trash, and industrial waste into the Tijuana River.

Residents around San Diego have faced major water quality and public health concerns, as the transboundary pollution from Mexico has caused the release of noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide from the Tijuana River. Residents in affected communities were advised to use air purifiers and filters.

Trash builds up along the Tijuana River outside of San Diego on Sept. 19, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

San Diego’s beaches have been closed, and even naval in-water training has been suspended because dangerously high concentrations of bacteria from the river have entered the Pacific Ocean.

“Through this agreement, a set of technical, financial, and governance actions is established to carry out concrete sanitation works in Tijuana, including new treatment infrastructure and sediment control, which will have a positive impact on public health, the environment, and the beaches of Tijuana and San Diego,” Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“It should be noted that the United States will assume shared financial responsibility, through the North American Development Bank (NADB), to ensure the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure on the Mexican side and to prevent its deterioration over time.”

According to the EPA, Minute 333 does not obligate “any additional U.S. taxpayer funding, including for Mexican-side projects.” U.S. funds to the NADB for the Border Water Infrastructure Program are appropriated by Congress every year and are contingent on confirmation that Mexico’s projects—as outlined in the minutes—are on schedule to complete construction.

Water flows along the Tijuana River outside of San Diego on Sept. 19, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that Minute 333 sets the “framework for tremendous steps to be made” and that his agency looks forward to “very quickly hitting the ground running to implement the mutually agreed upon actions.”

“I saw the frustration of San Diego area residents firsthand when I visited in April,” he said. “I promised them a 100 percent solution to this issue, and the Trump EPA is doing its part to deliver.”

Minute 333 builds on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Zeldin and Mexican Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena in July, in which Mexico agreed to expedite the expenditure of $93 million on improvements to the Tijuana sewage system and commit to several projects to account for future population growth and maintenance.

It codifies all actions listed in Section 4 of the MOU, which were “specifically designed to account for future population growth in Tijuana and the broader region,” the EPA said.