SerpApi.Org
Tijuana River cleanup efforts led by the federal government are suddenly in limbo after the Trump administration announced it will not re-sign the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The president’s decision now triggers an annual review of the trade deal, and San Diego leaders are now arguing that any renegotiated agreement should include stronger, enforceable requirements for Mexico and the federal government to address decades of sewage and toxic pollution flowing through the Tijuana River into California.
“No more loopholes, no vague commitments, no more deferring responsibility while communities suffer,” said County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, whose district includes the Tijuana River Valley, during a press conference last week in Otay Mesa on the renewed push for a USMCA agreement.
In 2020, the USMCA included a $300 million U.S. commitment to find and develop infrastructure solutions for the ongoing, decades-long, river crisis.
The Environmental Protection Agency, through the agreement, is responsible for undertaking the planning, design and construction of priority treatment facilities within the watershed to mitigate pollution caused by the transboundary flows from Mexico into San Diego.
“It’s essential that Mexico is held to its commitments under the USMCA to ensure lasting progress for our region,” said Rep. Scott Peters in a statement to Times of San Diego. “And if we walk away, we risk undoing hard-won progress and leave San Diego exposed to more pollution and economic setbacks.”
Together, the San Diego Congressional delegation, Sen. Alex Padilla and Sen. Adam Schiff, wrote a letter to the Trump Administration last December, urging the White House to uphold the USMCA provisions addressing the Tijuana River.
But now, officials say there is an opportunity require more than was previously laid out in the original USMC Agreement.
“The USMCA has been pivotal for San Diego, a city long plagued by cross-border pollution and chronic sewage spills largely caused by Mexico’s failing infrastructure, which threatens our beaches, public health and local economy,” Peters said.
Assemblymember David Alvarez — during last week’s press conference, alongside Sierra Club San Diego and WILDCOAST — announced he would also introduce a state resolution next month demanding more for the Tijuana River in any future trade agreement.
“Our community cannot continue to live with the uncertainty of not knowing what is going to happen as part of this agreement,” he said. “We must have enforceable, measurable commitments to end transboundary pollution in the Tijuana River Valley and the watershed, and real investments in infrastructure as part of any renegotiated USMCA.”
While state officials continue urging the federal government to repair key infrastructure, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in June $46 million in state funding to help address cross-border contamination. The federal government secured another $353 in the years since the 2020 USCMA allocation, though EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has blamed the lack of progress on the crisis on delays caused by the Mexican government.
In early July, less than two weeks after the Trump administration declared they wouldn’t renew the agreement as it stands, a San Diego panel of experts agreed a lasting solution would require a binational foundation that could survive political turnover.
Last year, the EPA and Mexico adopted Minute 333. The agreement laid out new wastewater infrastructure and maintenance projects that each country must take on by certain deadlines.
Earlier this year, a San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce report acknowledged “no single Minute or agreement can resolve every need,” and said a lasting solution will require ongoing binational efforts.
“If the USMCA is to continue shaping our economic future, it must first stop undermining it. This moment demands courage and clarity,” Aguirre said at the press conference. “It demands that we refuse to accept environmental harm as the cost of doing business.”
