Border sewage funding, like the problem, is one big mess
Earlier this month, more than a few people thought the money to address the border sewage spills had suddenly almost doubled.
It didn’t, but the confusion was understandable.
On Sept. 1, a letter from the federal government and statements by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Todd Gloria led some officials and news organizations to believe recently requested additional funding to fix the problem had been obtained. It hadn’t.
The temporary misunderstanding resulted from how the letter and statements were worded and presented, along with some shifts in financing for the border project. The plan centers on the rehabilitation and expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which handles sewage flows from Tijuana.
The reality is $350 million has been appropriated for the work, with at least an additional $310 million being sought by California’s U.S. senators and the San Diego congressional delegation, led by Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego.
There were some reports at the beginning of the month that more than $650 million was essentially in hand. That’s close to the total of the federal government’s initial cost estimate to address the border pollution problem.
This week, an official with the International Boundary and Water Commission said the overall cost for the plant and related planned border infrastructure is now estimated at $900 million.
Unwinding how the confusion over Newsom’s statement came to pass involves a lot of numbers and parsing of language.
A few years back, after relentless appeals from regional officials, the federal government agreed to direct $300 million to the San Diego-Mexico border region, which for generations had been polluted by sewage and other toxic runoff from Tijuana.
With some contributions from other pots of federal money, that figure now sits at $350 million, which isn’t as widely known.
The plant came online in 1997 and has a capacity to treat 25 million gallons of sewage a day. Eventually, it turned out to be no match for the combination of Tijuana’s rapid growth and deteriorating sewer system. The plan is to expand the plant’s average capacity to 50 million gallons a day, with the ability to handle higher peak flows.
In recent months, the Voice of San Diego reported that the international plant, which is on the U.S. side of the border, had fallen into serious disrepair, in part because of the lack of maintenance. Engineers determined that would cost about $150 million to fix — half of the original allocation to expand the plant.
Tropical Storm Hilary made the situation worse, damaging the plant and shutting down its operation. Sewage wasn’t just flowing into the Tijuana River Valley and to San Diego’s South County coastal waters, it was washing through the streets of Imperial Beach.
Imperial Beach has been heavily impacted by sewage spills for years and, more recently, so has Coronado. Beyond the health threat to residents and visitors, the tainted water has disrupted Navy SEAL training and border patrol operations, sometimes sickening sailors and agents.
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla then urged Congress to approve $310 million in new emergency spending to fix the rampant sewage pollution, according to an Aug. 30 story by Tammy Murga of The San Diego Union-Tribune. (Peters and others are seeking the same amount on the House side.)
Two days later, Newsom, who earlier had been pressed by San Diegans to seek more border assistance from President Joe Biden, put out a statement announcing what sounded like a major breakthrough.
A release from Newsom’s office said “the federal government has committed to rehabilitate and expand” the border sewage treatment plant.
What caught everybody’s eye was a line that said the “EPA will transfer approximately $350 million that has been appropriated for work on this project.”
That is accurate, but not
new. That money has been there, though apparently some moves have been made to expedite its use.
The release had laudatory statements from the governor and several others, including state Senate president pro tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, who had been urging Newsom to seek assistance for the border problem.
Later that day, Gloria joined in on social media.
“Today, @POTUS, @CAgovernor, @SenToniAtkins announced $350 million to help address cross-border pollution in the Tijuana River Valley,” said the mayor’s account on X (formerly Twitter).
Again, that’s accurate. But the statements by the mayor and governor made it seem like new money was being announced.
Part of the reason may have been the $350 million figure, which many people weren’t familiar with. That was mistaken for an additional amount to the original $300 million directed to the project.
The confusion can be
traced to a Sept. 1 letter to Newsom from Radhika Fox, assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency’s office of water, and Maria-Elena Giner, the U.S. commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). Newsom’s online release has a link to the letter.
The letter stated the EPA “currently has $300 million in funds dedicated to the project” and added “additional funding is anticipated.”
The letter then goes on to say what the “anticipated funding (approximately $350 million)” would be used for.
The announcement was treated like a big deal at the state and local level, and some news organizations followed in kind.
NBC San Diego reported, “Federal help on the way for cross-border sewage crisis in San Diego County.” The news organization originally reported the $350 million was additional money, then revised its story.
The Coronado Times headline read, “Feds announce
$350 million in additional funding for Tijuana Sewage Rehab Ahead of Stop the Sewage Protest.”
The governor’s announcement came the same day as the protest was held in Coronado, where signs warning of polluted ocean water have been commonplace.
So where do things stand now?
There’s the $350 million appropriated and $310 million being sought. Further, Peters this week filed amendments to legislation to increase annual funding to the IBWC for facilities along the border.
The hunt for more money will continue, given the new estimate approaching $1 billion.
Despite significant progress over the past few years, recent developments have brought back familiar, decades-long frustration.
“It’s the worst it’s ever been,” Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre said on Wednesday.