Union-Tribune Editorial
Back Bajagua

City should push best border sewage solution
January 22, 2002

Although you don't hear about it very often, raw sewage flowing from Tijuana into the United States continues to be a serious problem. Today, the San Diego City Council has an opportunity to affirm the best solution to stop, once and for all, Tijuana sewage from plaguing our side of the border.

The International Boundary and Water Commission built a treatment plant in the Tijuana River Valley just north of the border in 1997, and most observers thought that plant was the solution. But it was never big enough to handle all of the sewage flow, nor does it treat sewage to high enough standards.

An addition to the plant was supposed to be built, but it never was. Even the addition proposed by the IBWC wouldn't be big enough to handle all of the sewage. Plus, it would produce a huge amount of sludge, possibly tainted with toxins, that nobody's completely sure how to dispose of.

A plan was broached a few years ago to build the sewage plant expansion in Tijuana instead of next to the current plant, which is about 2 miles west of the San Ysidro border crossing. Instead of a small additional plant that would produce sludge, this project would be a pond system that could produce reclaimed water for industrial and irrigation uses in Mexico. This project is known as Bajagua, because that's the name of the private company that has proposed this public-private partnership.
Congress passed a law in November 2000 authorizing the privately funded project in Mexico and directing the State Department to begin negotiations with Mexico for a new treaty. After a year of foot-dragging, the State Department and the IBWC will finally begin those negotiations this month.

Two years ago, Mayor Susan Golding and the City Council endorsed Bajagua. Now it's time for Mayor Dick Murphy and the new council to do the same. The reason is that this project needs all the juice it can get. The IBWC has made it clear it doesn't like Bajagua; officials at that agency must be pushed into action. The Tijuana River Valley is part of the city of San Diego. This 70-year-long sewage spill is one of the most persistent environmental problems in the city's history. The current city leadership must push for a solution.

Bajagua is the best answer for many reasons. It wouldn't require up-front investment; the private company will build it and contract the services to the IBWC. It would be built in Mexico, where the sewage problem originates, thus allowing that nation to take part in the solution. And, it would provide Tijuana with a desperately needed source of reclaimed water.

The downside is that Bajagua would take a little longer to build because binational negotiations and an environmental study are needed. But after 70 years of sewage flows, and a decade in which the IBWC dithered before building a plant that's too small, we can wait a few more years if it means finally accomplishing the real solution.

Copyright 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.