Funds Released for Border Sewage Plan

San Diego has passed another hurdle in its ongoing effort to repel large volumes of Mexican sewage that have polluted farms, wetlands and coastal areas in the city’s southern section, federal officials announced Thursday.

After considerable delay, federal authorities have finally agreed to release $5 million for the planning and design of a so-called “defensive” sewage system in the border area.

The system is designed to catch errant sewage flows from Tijuana in the event of a breakdown of the Mexican system, which has been plagued by intermittent problems. The Mexican sewage would then be placed in holding ponds until the sewage could be piped back to the Tijuana system.

The $5 million is the first installment of the $32 million in federal money needed to complete the system. Congress authorized the full amount in 1984, but the remaining $27 million will not be released until the planning and design phase is completed.

“We need a permanent defense against the threat of Mexico’s sewage woes,” Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado) said in a prepared statement. “Freeing up this $5 million is the first substantial movement in making that defense a practical reality. Our goal is to make San Diego County a sewage-free zone, and this design funding is a big step in the right direction.” The release of the $5 million was announced Thursday after congressmen Hunter, Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), Jim Bates (D-San Diego) and Bill Lowery (R-San Diego) met with the Office of Management and Budget.

Mayor Maureen O’Connor opened a 3:30 p.m. City Council session Thursday with the news. She congratulated Councilman Uvaldo Martinez for his tenacity in pursuing the project and said, “It’s a beginning that bodes well for us all.”

Once construction of the system begins, it will take between 30 and 33 months to complete, said Scott Harvey, San Diego’s director of intergovernmental relations. The proposed system, consisting of a standby interceptor pump station and and 66-inch pipeline, will provide protection against potential failure of Tijuana’s new pump station.

Despite the release of money for the new system, experts have said they do not see the defensive treatment facility as a permanent solution. As Tijuana continues to grow, its sewage flows will eventually outpace the capacity of any planned defensive sewer systems in the United States.

“It will buy us time,” Harvey said.