The governments of Mexico and the United States reached an agreement on Thursday aimed at finding a permanent solution to a crisis in which Mexican wastewater has flowed for decades into the Tijuana River and across the US border, emptying into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin and Alicia Bárcena, head of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), signed a memorandum of understanding, in which Mexico pledged to accelerate spending $93 million on improvements to Tijuana’s sewage system and to carry out several projects to account for future population growth and maintenance.
According to the EPA, some of the Mexican projects will be completed four years ahead of schedule.
The United States, in turn, pledged to release funds to complete the expansion of a wastewater treatment plant by the end of August. The plant is located on the US side of the border, but treats wastewater pumped from Mexico.
“This is a huge victory for millions of Americans and Mexicans who have been asking us to end this decades-long crisis,” Zeldin said in a statement.
“For the first time, we have a clear path: defined goals, joint investments, and real solutions. This progress reflects the results-oriented cooperation between Presidents Donald Trump (US) and Claudia Sheinbaum (Mexico),” said US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson, who witnessed the signing of the agreement in Mexico City, on his social media account.
Although the two countries have long cooperated on water and sewage issues, Tijuana’s wastewater crisis, exacerbated by the border city’s rapid growth and a lack of funding for infrastructure projects, has often been a sore point.
The agreement comes amid other cross-border tensions on issues such as immigration, drug trafficking, and arms trafficking.
Source: eleconomista
