Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that the state is sending $46 million in voter-approved funding to help clean up the chronically contaminated Tijuana River at the California-Mexico border.
“People in San Diego County shouldn’t have to worry about getting sick, losing access to their beaches, and living with polluted air,” the statement said.
The move was cheered by San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, who made cleaning up the Tijuana River Valley a centerpiece of her campaign.
“I appreciate the Governor’s attention and commitment to addressing the cross-border pollution crisis and welcome the availability of these funds to combat this emergency,” she said in a statement, adding that the priority now is to get the money to the Tijuana River Valley as quickly as possible.
“Families in South County are living through a public health emergency,” Aguirre said. “They are breathing toxic air and dealing with the impacts of sewage pollution every single day. These communities must be first in line when funds are awarded. Residents have waited long enough. We need resources on the ground now.”
Since 2018, more than 100 billion gallons of raw sewage filled with industrial chemicals and trash have poured into the Tijuana River, according to the International Boundary and Water Commission. The sewage has filled the region with a distinctive “rotten-egg” smell, which is the product of industrial pollutants that sicken people — particularly vulnerable groups like the immunocompromised, infants and the elderly.
The raw, foul-smelling sewage that empties into the Pacific Ocean emits hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that can erode neurons in the nose, trigger asthma attacks and cause symptoms such as headaches, nausea, cough, shortness of breath, skin and eye irritation. Its long-term health problems are only starting to be understood.
For years, tens of thousands of people have and continue to be exposed to the sewage in one of the nation’s worst and longest-running environmental crises — which affects largely low-income Latino communities.
“This funding is desperately needed. Certainly every dollar we can secure to address the Tijuana River crisis is a big help,” said Phillip Musegaas, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental nonprofit in Southern California. “Unfortunately, this funding is really just a small portion of what’s needed to fully address the crisis.
“We need more federal funding to fix and expand the wastewater infrastructure that is now under stress and is often failing or inadequate to treat all the sewage that’s being generated,” he added.
The United States and Mexico signed an agreement last year to clean up the longstanding problem by upgrading wastewater plants to keep up with Tijuana’s population growth and industrial waste from factories, many owned by U.S. companies.
The funding will come from Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond measure approved in 2024 to fund water, climate, wildfire and natural resource projects across the state.
At least 40% of the money is supposed to be spent on communities hardest hit by climate change and environmental pollution. It will be made available as competitive grants for projects that reduce bacteria and trash, address public health issues related to cross-border pollution and support mitigation and restoration.
In Thursday’s announcement, Newsom called on the Trump administration again to find a permanent solution to the polluted region.
“California has stepped up repeatedly, but we can’t solve a decades-long federal failure on our own,” Newsom said in the release.
“The Trump administration must do its part, honor its commitments, and finally deliver the lasting solutions this community deserves, and they have a moral obligation to provide.”
Associated Press contributed to this article.
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