Sacramento Report: Lawmakers Go After Tijuana River Sewage Crisis — Again

Sen. Steve Padilla on Wednesday announced a proposal to address the Tijuana River sewage crisis when the Legislature reconvenes in January. It’s the latest attempt from the Chula Vista Democrat to address the crisis, which impacts large swaths of his district. 

This week, I wanted to take a look at what Padilla, and other members of the San Diego delegation have done and are planning to do to address what’s considered one of the worst longstanding environmental disasters in California.

First, A Primer: What’s Up With The Tijuana River Again?

For decades, billions of gallons of sewage water and toxic chemicals from Tijuana have entered the river from the heart of the city and traversed the border to Imperial Beach. 

Several beaches in the southernmost tip of San Diego County have been closed for years and the river continues to sicken nearby communities and Navy SEALS who train in the water.

Sen. Catherine Blakespear, the Democratic chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, held a joint legislative hearing in La Jolla last week to discuss new public health findings.

Manufacturing plants have produced industrial waste and run off that the aging wastewater plants are unequipped to handle, researchers explained at the hearing.

Studies have found that 45% of respondents who live near the river have reported experiencing health problems and 63% say that pollution has disrupted their work or school, said Paula Stigler Granados, a professor of public health at San Diego State University.

Blakespear was joined by assemblymembers David Alvarez and Tasha Boerner and senators Brian Jones and Padilla.

As mentioned in last week’s Sacramento Report, San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, who represents Imperial Beach, was also at the hearing. She requested from the delegation a state plan to better address communication and funding issues between agencies.

“This has a very significant impact on the mental wellness of our community as well,” Aguirre said.

Where federal assistance stands

In 2022, San Diego’s congressional delegation helped secure $300 million for wastewater treatment upgrades and an additional $370 million to repair the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The Environmental Protection Agency also announced this week a new agreement with Mexico to build the Tecolote-La Gloria Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Where state-level efforts stand

In his bill next year, Padilla will ask the California Air Resources Board to review and lower its standards for acceptable levels of hydrogen sulfide, the biggest pollutant coming from the river.  A designation that the river has dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide would open up more public health funding.

His original bill, Senate Bill 58, sought to give tax credits to carbon-free data centers and will be amended to include the proposed Tijuana River changes. He will introduce it on Jan. 5, when the Legislature reconvenes.

Padilla also introduced a bill this year to use revenue from the Otay Mesa East border crossing — which is expected to pull in millions of dollars of revenue — for sanitation infrastructure projects. It died before it reached a floor vote in the Assembly.

Earlier this year, as part of the state budget, Alvarez secured $46 million in funding from Proposition 4, the $10 billion climate bond, for rivers polluted with sewage.

No other members of the delegation have announced additional legislation about the sewage crisis.

In 2024, a proposal to fine corporate polluters and another bill to block a South Bay landfill project that Padilla and environmentalists said could worsen pollution in the Tijuana River, both failed before reaching the second chamber.

Local and state officials, including Aguirre, have continued to urge the governor to declare a state emergency over the sewage crisis.

Amid these proposals, Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024 said that “it would have meant nothing” to declare a state of emergency because the federal government owns the wastewater plant near the border

What I’m Reading Now

• State and San Diego officials met Tuesday to address costly traffic jams on Interstate 5, KPBS reports.

• Chula Vista renewed the lease on its Olympic training center ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, writes the San Diego Union-Tribune.

• The Trump administration moved to ban gender-affirming care for minors by stripping federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars from hospitals that provide the treatment, The Associated Press reports.

Thanks for reading the Sacramento Report, as always. Please reach me at nadia@voiceofsandiego.org for any tips or good conversation.

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