New Project, Funding Aim to Tackle Ongoing Border Sewage Pollution Crisis

Twin announcements Tuesday could bring welcome relief to the ongoing pollution crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border in the Tijuana River Valley.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced the beginning of a state-funded pilot project featuring floating trash booms made partially from recycled material.

The $4.7 million project, financed by California’s Water Resources Control Board and managed by the nonprofit Rural Community Assistance Corporation, is intended to intercept and collect large items of trash such as tires and appliances dumped into the river.

“California is working with our local and federal partners to address the ongoing Tijuana River crisis,” Newsom said. “This project to stop trash from clogging the river is part of an all-of-the-above approach we’re taking to help protect Tijuana River valley communities.”

The plastic and steel trash booms — scheduled to be deployed for the next two storm seasons — were actually deployed on Nov. 14, but Tuesday marked the first day they began collecting debris.

Newsom visited the border on Dec. 5 for an unrelated project at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, but also visited both sides of the border earlier in the year to see how work on the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant was unfolding.

Also on Tuesday, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, announced he and the San Diego Congressional delegation have secured $250 million in the “Further Continuing Appropriations and Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2025” for the Tijuana River pollution.

The funding is slated to go to the International Boundary and Water Commission to fully fund the $610 million requested for wastewater treatment plant repairs and expansion.

“This critical disaster relief funding will finally provide the International Boundary and Water Commission the support needed to repair and expand the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant,” Padilla said. “Southern California communities have for too long faced unacceptable, dangerous health and environmental hazards from the toxic waste and raw sewage flowing across the border. I will keep fighting for federal resources necessary to end this dangerous pollution crisis.”

More than 100 billion gallons of sewage, trash and contaminated stormwater have flowed across the border and out to sea in the past five years, causing numerous health concerns and years of beach closures. Last year alone, more than 44 billion gallons of effluvia crossed the international border in the Tijuana River Valley.

Padilla and the San Diego congressional delegation secured $103 million in additional funding for the IBWC in the bipartisan FY 2024 appropriations package earlier this year.

“I’m incredibly glad to see funding for the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant included in this package,” Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, said. “This critical investment is needed to fully fund the plant’s rehabilitation and expansion project. Toxic sewage pollution in the Tijuana River has hurt our health, our environment, and our economy for too long.

“Thank you to everyone who has joined us in raising their voice about this issue. It’s made a world of difference. We know there’s more work to do. But this is a big step forward.”