There’s a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, but likely not the one you’re thinking of. No, this one has nothing to do with immigration, walls, and asylum seekers. Instead, it has everything to do with shared responsibility between the U.S. and Mexico for runoff in the Tijuana River Watershed that’s become a public health emergency in recent years on both sides of the border.
According to the Surfrider Foundation, more than 20 million gallons of partially-treated effluent is discharged into the Pacific Ocean just five miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border per day. Numerous spills have occurred in recent years too – most notably a 2017 spill that saw 143 million gallons of sewage dumped into the Pacific Ocean.
With the problem worsening, Surfrider alleges that the International Boundary and Water Commission, the regulatory body concerned with water quality and pollution at the border, is failing the public on numerous fronts and has filed suit.
“Despite the devastating environmental and public health impacts that these ongoing sewage discharges are causing, minimal efforts have been made by government officials to address these issues,” explains Surfrider in a blog post. “The fact that the most heavily impacted community of Imperial Beach has a poverty rate of approximately 20 percent, raises environmental justice concerns as well. Unfortunately, water quality conditions continue to worsen in this border region and responsible federal agencies, including the International Border Water Commission, have failed to take effective action on the issue.”
The mini-doc above highlights the complexities of water pollution at the border and its many risks to beach-goers including cases of Hepatitis A, MRSA, and flesh-eating bacteria that have been recorded in south San Diego County.
Surfrider’s San Diego chapter continues to monitor water quality north of the border through its volunteer Blue Water Task Force, and educate local communities about the risks of surfing and swimming in contaminated water. Together with local communities, the chapter also spearheaded the Clean Border Water Now campaign, a grassroots effort to move regulators to act.
At present, those efforts have appeared to have fallen on deaf ears. With a pending lawsuit, though, and increased media attention, the crisis is quickly becoming difficult to ignore.
