Tijuana River program moves multiple sewage-control projects into construction
EPA's September 30 update reports a completed gravity line, new river-gate construction, a treatment-plant expansion award and channel clearing before winter.
A September 30 update from the Environmental Protection Agency reports progress across several projects intended to reduce sewage flows and pollution in the Tijuana River watershed. The quarterly update says the Parallel Gravity Line has been completed, Phase 2 of the Tijuana River Gates entered construction and the first major contract was awarded for the next expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.
EPA also reported that crews cleared approximately 16,622 feet of the Tijuana River pilot channel ahead of a forecast strong El Niño winter. On the Mexico side, Phase 2 of the river-gates project is funded through EPA’s Border Water Infrastructure Program and began construction in September. EPA says it is scheduled to advance alongside Phase 1 and reach completion in early 2027.
The program combines treatment, conveyance and storm-readiness work rather than relying on one facility. EPA’s update lists interceptor and collector rehabilitation, pump-station projects and effluent relocation in addition to the treatment-plant expansion. That systems approach matters because a failure in pumping or conveyance can bypass treatment capacity that is otherwise available.
Cross-border delivery also creates unusual coordination risk. Funding, procurement and construction schedules are divided among U.S. and Mexican institutions, while the watershed behaves as one system. The public schedule therefore needs to be read project by project. Completion of one line reduces a specific vulnerability but does not mean the broader sewage problem is resolved.
The September 30 update provides measurable field progress and dated targets, but the next rainy season will test interim controls before all permanent work is complete. The most important evidence will be finished conveyance segments, certified pump capacity, treatment-plant commissioning and monitored reductions in cross-border flows.
Representative shoreline photo: Presque Isle, Lake Erie, September 2013. Photo by Kraus, CC BY 3.0. No editorial alterations; display versions may be resized or cropped.
