EPA Head Announces Deal With Mexico To Fix Tijuana River Pollution Problem

By William Teach July 25, 2025 – 10:30 am

This is a pretty big deal. Sure, it’s mostly about the San Diego area, but, imagine if it was Biden who got this deal done: it would be all over the national news, instead of primarily local San Diego area outlets. Anyhow, interestingly, far left Common Dreams published an opinion piece with details on how bad the river is polluted, but, too quick for this
EPA director announces ‘permanent 100% solution’ on Tijuana River sewage crisis
Lee Zeldin, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, announced Thursday that the Trump administration has brokered a “100% permanent solution” to the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
A memorandum of understanding signed by representatives of the United States and Mexico calls for increases in funding, reduced construction timelines, and adjustments to the scope of existing projects “to account for future population growth in Tijuana.”
“What the residents of Southern California need and deserve, what they’ve been waiting for for too long, isn’t just a solution that is a Band-Aid for that moment, but a permanent 100% solution,” Zeldin said. “This isn’t just an agreement for 2025.”
Zeldin visited San Diego on April 20, touring South County and visiting the Navy SEAL base in the area and getting a bird’s-eye view of the situation from a helicopter.
“I also smelled for myself that foul smell that so many residents of Southern California have been complaining about for so long,” Zeldin said. “What we felt leaving there as a team at EPA, and with the U.S. government, was this burning desire at the Trump administration to dedicate a tremendous amount of energy of time to make sure that the residents of Southern California would be receiving this good news as quickly as possible.”
The people of the San Diego area have long been dealing with the pollution and raw sewage flowing down the river, causing beaches to be closed and dealing with the smell.
The Mexican government commits to diverting 10 million gallons per day of treated wastewater from the Tijuana River generated by the Arturo Herrera and La Morita wastewater treatment plants in Tijuana “to a site upstream of the Rodriguez Dam,” in Tijuana. The project, estimated to cost $13.3 million, does not appear to be fully funded, with the EPA’s statement saying that “Mexico will immediately seek internal funding to initiate the construction process for the diversion.”
Good.
The list of goals and timelines in the memorandum appears to have aisle-crossing appeal.

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