Tijuana sewage-treatment plant proposal gains favor | Bajagua seen as way to fix border problem
Leslie Wolf Branscomb
Jan 7, 2005. pg. B.3.1.2

The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission, ordered to upgrade the treatment of sewage at the border, has picked a project known as Bajagua as its "preferred alternative" for the first time.

It's a victory for the small group of American and Mexican investors who have spent 10 years and $20 million trying to persuade authorities that their plan for a public-private sewage treatment plant in Tijuana -- which would sell reclaimed water for a profit -- is the best solution.

"It's the first time that anyone in a government agency has actually used Bajagua by name, so we're excited about that," said project spokesman Craig Benedetto.

The border sewage problem goes back at least 70 years. Since the 1930s, raw sewage from Mexico has entered the U.S. via the northward- flowing Tijuana River.

Many thought the problem would be solved when the International Wastewater Treatment Plant was built in the Tijuana River Valley, on the U.S. side, in 1997. But the plant, which discharges treated sewage into U.S. waters off Imperial Beach, doesn't capture all the sewage that flows across the border, especially when it rains.
The plant treats sewage to the advanced primary level, but has never reached the cleaner level called secondary treatment, which is required by state and federal law.

The effort to upgrade to secondary treatment has been the subject of many meetings and lawsuits.
The IBWC twice has issued a "record of decision" identifying the preferred method to provide the secondary treatment. First the IBWC opted for an "activated sludge" process, then decided to build open- air sewage ponds in the Tijuana River Valley.

Both plans were the subject of lawsuits and criticism. The local congressional delegation, which had changed federal law to smooth the way for Bajagua in 2000, stymied the latest effort by refusing to authorize funding for the open-air ponds, which were opposed by valley residents.

In November, Congress reauthorized the law, which was first passed during the Clinton administration, to provide funding and allow Bajagua to build a secondary sewage treatment plant in Tijuana as a joint U.S.-Mexico project.
On Dec. 6 the sole remaining lawsuit, brought by the state Regional Water Quality Control Board, was resolved. A federal judge established a compliance calendar for the IBWC, to ensure that secondary treatment is reached by 2008.

The agency's first court-ordered task was to complete the draft environmental impact statement by Dec. 30. The draft report is not final, and though Bajagua was named the preferred alternative, six other
alternatives are discussed in the report.

The 515-page document is available for review at local public libraries, or on-line on the IBWC's Web site, at www.ibwc.state.gov/ Files/SEIS/DraftSEIS.pdf.

A public hearing on the environmental impact statement is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 2 in the San Ysidro Middle School auditorium, 4345 Otay Mesa Road.

The public has until Feb. 28 to submit written comments before a final environmental impact report is prepared. Comments may be submitted to Daniel Borunda, Environmental Protection Specialist, Compliance Section, USIBWC, 4171 N. Mesa St., C-100, El Paso, TX 79902.