The Tijuana River, with its frequent flows of sewage and chemically contaminated water, is among America’s most endangered rivers, according to a report released Tuesday that highlights threats to the water drinking throughout the country.
American Rivers, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting the health of rivers in the United States, made a list of the 10 most endangered waterways and ranked the binational Tijuana River in ninth place.
“The river joins the Pacific Ocean at beautiful beaches once frequented by families, swimmers and surfers, but which are now choked with pollution, limiting access to the coast and causing serious threats to public health,” the report says.
Elected officials and environmental groups said Tuesday the designation reaffirms what affected communities have championed for years: functioning wastewater infrastructure on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and clean air and water.
And they hope the listing “will be a turning point in securing the funding and resources we desperately need to ensure a clean and accessible Tijuana River Valley,” Zack Plopper, the association’s environmental director, told non-profit Surfrider Foundation, during a press conference. the Tijuana Estuary announcing the report.
American River’s report included New Mexico’s rivers, Mississippi’s Big Sunflower and Yazoo rivers and Tennessee’s Duck River among the three most endangered waterways. Those on the list were selected based on their importance to humans and wildlife and the magnitude of the threat.
Their report also comes months after the Mexican government recognized Tijuana has some of the most sewage-contaminated beaches in the country.
The Tijuana River travels more than 100 miles through northwest Baja California and the Tijuana Estuary – a vital breeding and staging ground for 370 species of birds – to San Diego before reaching the Pacific Ocean.
But years of neglect and underinvestment in treatment plants in Mexico and the United States have led to Clean Water Act violations and beach closures, as billions of gallons of sewage partially processed from Mexico flowed through the Tijuana River to San Diego. Residents on both sides of the border bear the health and economic costs.
Despite recent measures taken to alleviate the crisis, including Mexico’s inauguration of a sewage plant rehabilitation and Congress give the green light to the funds to repair a plant in South San Diego, the report says “road blocks continue to stand in the way.”
Elected officials continue to call on President Joe Biden to declare the wastewater crisis an emergency and for Congress to allocate more money to expand the South County wastewater treatment plant. Most recently, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre returned to Washington, D.C., on Monday to urge the federal government to accelerate solutions.
California Daily Newspapers
