IBWC seeks border sewage solution

The US-Mexico International Boundary & Water Commission (IBWC) is in the process of negotiating with Mexico's government the construction of a secondary water treatment plant in Tijuana, the IBWC announced. The plant would remedy the treatment of sewage from Tijuana in Baja California Norte state that crosses into the US along the border near San Diego. IBWC currently treats this sewage at the primary level at the South Bay plant in San Diego. However, the Clean Water Act, which establishes the framework for regulating discharges of pollutants into US waters, calls for secondary treatment. The plant is designed to treat 50Mgal/d of Tijuana sewage through 2003, according to the IBWC website, while the total cost of the system is estimated at US$400mn. Both countries share in the operation and maintenance of the plant. An environmental impact statement will be created to discuss eight alternatives for sewage treatment, including the discharge of the plant's effluent into Mexican, rather than US waters, and shutdown of the existing plant, with all sewage flows handled in Mexico.