A major wastewater treatment plant’s capacity has been increased by 10 million gallons per day (MGD) as part of efforts to solve the ongoing Tijuana sewage crisis.
The South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant can now process 35 MGD, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Aug. 28. It will eventually be expanded to a total capacity of 50 MGD, double its original volume.
The initial expansion was projected to take two years from its launch in the fall of 2024, but it was fast tracked in May, when EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a 100-day timeline. The full expansion is slated for completion by the end of 2027.
The 10 MGD expansion is expected to mitigate flows of wastewater from Tijuana into the ocean, causing foul smells, extended beach closures, and raising health concerns.
Before the expansion, the SBIWTP was treating 25 MGD in San Diego. Across the border, the San Antonio de los Buenos treatment plant (SAB) treats 18 MGD. That left 27 MGD untreated, Coronado City Council Member Mark Fleming reported at an Aug. 19 council meeting.
The completed expansion comes after the US and Mexico in July signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlining increased efforts to mitigate the decades-long problem.
Zeldin credited the Trump administration for expediting the repairs, saying the president is committed to creating a “permanent, 100 percent solution” to the problem in coming years.
“Just four months after I personally surveyed the environmental devastation in San Diego, seeing the polluted waterways, closed beaches, and smelling the foul air, we’ve delivered this critical expansion years ahead of schedule,” Zeldin said in a statement. “Protecting human health and the environment is our first priority at EPA, and no American should have to worry if the air they breathe or the beaches they visit are safe.”
Tijuana has experienced rapid population growth in recent years, and the current, planned projects that the US and Mexico agreed to in Treaty Minute 328 won’t fully address the problem, Zeldin said.
“As is, we were looking at an 80 percent solution,” Zeldin said in July of the former minute agreement, “that as each month and year would pass, as infrastructure would get further stressed as Tijuana’s population would increase, would become further outdated, faster.”
Both countries have agreed to enter an additional minute agreement by the end of the year to address future growth and infrastructure needs.
This new agreement will contain a minimum of one dozen new actions and projects necessary to permanently end the pollution crisis, including: engineering feasibility work for an ocean outfall pipe at the SAB wastewater treatment plant; creating a special maintenance account at the North American Development Bank; developing a comprehensive Tijuana water infrastructure master plan; and establishing a real-time binational monitoring system.
Per the MOU signed in July, Mexico will complete all of the projects it committed to in Minute 328 by the end of 2027 or sooner, with several now slated for completion this year. It will release $93 million in previously committed, but not allocated, funding for these projects.
Mexico will use this funding to rehabilitate a parallel gravity line and to divert 10 MGD of treated effluent upstream of the Rodriguez Dam.
In return, the US agreed to release EPA Border Water Infrastructure Programing (BWIP) funding as soon as Mexico begins construction on those two projects. The BWIP funding will be used to complete pump station one and the Tijuana River collection pipes (also known as the Tijuana River gates).
Within 100 days of the MOU signing, both the US and Mexico will also evaluate all infrastructure project schedules. Zeldin said that his goal is to complete the remaining infrastructure projects as quickly as possible.
At the time of publication, Coronado’s beaches were open. Imperial Beach’s shoreline is closed, and has been since Aug. 2. The Tijuana slough shoreline has been closed since Dec. 2021.
I would like to see more reporting on how this additional 10 MGD is actually being treated. I’ve heard that it’s only treated at a “primary” level, and then mixed in with the 25 MGD of “secondary” level treated sewage at the plant.
If this is the case, then this fast-tracked plan seems to be less ideal than it appears on the surface.
I’d like to see more detailed reporting about this important piece of the puzzle. South Bay residents (including Coronado) deserve fully treated sewage.
This update is very encouraging.
The Tijuana River Sewerage Crisis has been a decades old problem. As a long time property owner and resident of, Imperial Beach, the situation continues to be a disaster. Residents, Business Owners and or Military Families deserve to know that our elected representatives and officials will dutifully fulfill their commitments to the “taxpayers ”. We need to stand up and demand that this crisis be resolved. Delayed timelines and excuses need to be appropriately handled and addressed immediately. No more excuses, the problem is solvable.
We also need our neighbor’ Mexico’ to seriously address the problem. Simply saying that we are going to do or part isn’t sufficient. We need to see tangible results.
Taxpayers deserve to live in a community where they are safe from‘ hazardous waste and toxic air’. Our community is a great place and our citizens and future generations should be able to expect to live in a safe and healthy environment.
We are appreciative of the efforts made, but we diligently need to ensure that this project isn’t abandoned or delayed.
Keep Up The Good Fight!
Col. Robert Johnson (USA ret)