Work will soon begin on a $4 million sewage and wastewater infrastructure improvement project along the Tijuana River, it was announced Monday by the Director General of Mexico's National Water Commission (CONAGUA).
A majority of the funding will go toward repairing the "west collector" and improving the operation of waste plants which will lower the risk of sewage mains collapsing, the commission said.
Tijuana's sewage management issues cause contamination of water downstream in the U.S.
Several recent high-profile sewage spills have led to a lawsuit filed by several municipalities and agencies in San Diego County.
The Tijuana Rover runs through Tijuana, Mexico, from the southeast, crossing the U.S.-Mexico border just west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry and continues northwest to the Pacific Ocean.
Earlier this month, the County Department of Environmental Health closed Imperial Beach, Silver Strand State Beach and Coronado Beach due to contaminated flows after a heavy rainstorm.
Similar closures were issued in January following a rainstorm.
Local
Tijuana's sewage management issues have recently become an item on the agendas of local and state politicians.
In early March, the Port of San Diego along with the cities of Chula Vista and Imperial Beach filed a federal lawsuit against the agency responsible for preventing pollution in the Tijuana River Valley.
On Jan. 24, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wrote a letter addressed to the Office of Management and Budget requesting $20 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure program.
In a release, CONAGUA said that more than 3 miles of the "main collector" would be repaired, as well as waste plants, the electric substation, the engine's control system and the emergency power generators.
The commission said that the improvements will increase the collector's capacity to handle wastewater and guarantee an "adequate and secure" connection to connecting plants.
Work will begin on the project in 10 days, CONAGUA said.