Pandemic could imperil funding
CALEXICO – Local stakeholders are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to remain committed to funding the New River Improvement Project as he finalizes his May revision for the state’s proposed budget.
The project’s previously proposed $18 million in funding now appears to be in peril as a result of the anticipated reduction of tens of billions of dollars in state revenues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
An April 27 letter that the county Air Pollution Control District and the Comite Civico del Valle jointly sent Newsom acknowledges the state’s need to redirect funds on account of the pandemic.
Yet, the letter argues that funding for the project would help address the longstanding concerns of disadvantaged community members who are often more at risk during such pandemics.
“The constant burden of being exposed to bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens found in the untreated wastewater presents a persistent health threat along the California-Mexico border and may lead to rising vulnerability and susceptibility to diseases such as COVID-19,” the letter stated.
The letter, signed by county Air Pollution Control Officer Matt Dessert and Luis Olmedo, Comite Civico’s executive director, further states that the border region’s higher incidents of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease makes local residents more susceptible and vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus, as well.
“This makes disadvantaged communities, specifically those at the border, uniquely vulnerable to the impacts caused by the current pandemic,” the letter stated.
The ICAPCD and Comite Civico are formal partners on the local Assembly Bill 617 Community Steering Committee, which helps identify and undertake local air pollution control initiatives.
Previously, Newsom had allocated about
$18 million for the long-awaited project as part of his proposed $222 billion 2020-21 budget, Olmedo said.
The project’s Calexico phase consists of the installation of a trash screen on the New River just north of the border; encasing the river water from a point near the border to near Highway 98; and rerouting the wastewater discharged from Calexico’s treatment facility back into the river to restore some of its flow.
The design and engineering plans for the so-called Calexico phase are finalized and ready to begin the California Environmental Quality Act petition process for construction.
But funding remains an issue, with only $10 million of an estimated $28 million needed for construction having been secured, the letter stated.
The project was a good fit for Newsom’s proposed budget’s commitment to addressing health risks and inequities, as well as invest in disadvantaged communities, Olmedo said.
It is also a “shovel-ready” project that will address a cumulative public health risk, create local jobs and stimulate the economy, he said in an email.
“Abating the century-old New River public health endangerment will have many benefits directly linked to lessons learned with COVID-19,” Olmedo said. “We are respectfully asking Gov. Newsom to ‘keep it in the budget’ as they carry out the May revise.”
The proposed $18 million is part of a total $28 million that the state recently committed toward the New River Improvement Project. The other $10 million come from Proposition 68, the Clean Water and Parks Act passed in 2018.
Though both Comite Civico and ICAPCD are wary of the Prop 68 funds potentially being redirected by the state for COVID-related purposes, Olmedo said the general funds monies were the stakeholders’ focus for the time being.
The joint letter closely follows the county’s declaration of an emergency in connection to the New River in November. That emergency declaration should further help underscore the concerns expressed in the letter.
“We’re already in code red, now it’s like code maroon,” ” Olmedo said, referring to the health and economic disparities that the pandemic has further highlighted.
Calexico Mayor Bill Hodge said that he anticipates the city will also be reaching out to state officials to kindly request that the state’s proposed $28 million total for the project be safeguarded for its intended purpose.
While acknowledging the challenges that Newsom and the Legislature are bound to face as they contend with the state’s budget shortfall and pandemic-related expenses, Hodge also emphasized the longstanding concerns of the community and the wider impact New River pollution has in the Valley.
“We are truly on the cusp of something tangible -- within a certain amount of time -- of seeing fruition in a positive way with the New River project,” Hodge said. “It would be a great setback for us not to receive the money that was allocated.”
Currently, city officials are at work on the project’s Phase 1B, which includes site preparation for the proposed bike path that would be created alongside the mitigated river’s bank.