Addressing the Border Sewage Issue: Federal Agency Ready to Fix Treatment Plant
The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission has revealed plans to address the issues surrounding the broken wastewater treatment plant near the United States-Mexico border. The agency aims to start fixing and expanding the plant within about 7 years.
Contractors have been hired to design, fix, and expand the plant, which is crucial for treating 25 million gallons of Tijuana’s sewage daily. However, the design phase alone is expected to take up to 20 months, with additional construction potentially stretching over five years. This means that the affected beach communities in the U.S. may not see significant improvements in pollution levels until 2031.
Maria-Elena Giner, an IBWC leader, emphasized the agency’s commitment to address water quality, beach closures, and public health concerns in South Bay communities. However, the extended timeline and budget constraints pose significant challenges for the project.
While the estimated cost of the projects is around $600 million, the IBWC currently only has $400 million available. This figure is double what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initially anticipated for a larger sewage treatment plant. The deteriorated state of the existing plant has amplified the urgency of these repairs, highlighting the critical need for sufficient funding to maintain its functionality.
The IBWC aims to expedite the completion of the projects by utilizing a progressive design-build approach, which involves hiring contractors such as PCL Construction and Santec Consulting Services, Inc. This streamlined process is expected to reduce the overall project timeline by six to nine months.
