Tijuana's Toilet                           

Firm nears deal to reduce local beach sewage

February 4, 2007

We needed the rain that fell last week, but it came with a familiar price: Tons of raw human sewage
and other toxic waste were flushed onto San Diego County's southern beaches from the sprawling
shanties of Tijuana.

Of course, this outrage is nothing new. In 1944, Mexico and the United States added water issues to
the mandate of a commission formed in 1889 to resolve border disputes. Then officials did next to
nothing – for 55 years.

By 1999, the commission managed to open a treatment plant, in San Ysidro, designed to scrub
sewage from the Tijuana River. It was over-budget, and its discharge into California waters violates
the Clean Water Act because it remains too polluted.

Against this backdrop of failure, the Bajagua Project, run by a group of San Diego County investors,
reckoned it could do better. The plan wouldn't nearly solve all of Tijuana's pollution problem, but it
represented important progress. Now, after years of wrangling, real progress may be at hand.

Bajagua's offer, which took shape in the 1990s, was bold: The firm would build a plant in Mexico,
using private capital, to double Tijuana's sewage treatment capacity. And for good measure, the
project would scrub sewage and toxic metals from San Ysidro's discharge, thus rescuing the federal
project from court sanctions under the Clean Water Act.

In return, U.S. taxpayers would pay for the plant over 20 years. But they wouldn't pay a dime if the
project failed to meet American quality standards. Profits would be modest; a big payday for Bajagua
would come only if executives found Mexican buyers for the project's reclaimed water.

On paper, the Bajagua deal is a model use of private risk capital to fund badly needed investments in
public infrastructure. That's why it has enjoyed a decade of rare bipartisan support from San Diego's
congressional delegation.

Even the usual critics are missing. Bajagua's promise to scrub 59 million gallons a day of Tijuana
sewage has won it support from the Surfrider Foundation. Opposition has come from less-prominent
environmental activists and a handful of political opportunists.

Two complaints have merit: Bajagua has no private-sector competition, and the firm has showered
political contributions upon federal politicians. Yet the project stands up to scrutiny. There simply
are no other bidders willing to risk such a complex venture. And, sadly, dealing with two federal
governments requires a massive lobbying effort – just ask the defense industry.

More important, Bajagua has steadily cleared obstacles. Citigroup has offered financing; Mexico has
offered an 80-acre site; major water treatment firms have submitted construction bids.

A court has ordered the plant to open by Sept. 30, 2008. Meeting the deadline will be difficult. The
border commission must embrace its private industry competitor before a discharge permit is
granted.

Meanwhile, San Diegans are right to be impatient. Even if Bajagua is a spectacular success, Tijuana
will still dump tons of toxic horrors into our common ocean.