On Wednesday, the San Diego Board of Supervisors unanimously advanced $8.75 million in funding to address the Tijuana River sewage crisis. The funding package devotes $2.5 million to infrastructure upgrades, $2.25 million to a public health study, and $4 million in short-term relief efforts.
San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre first announced a funding proposal for $4.75 million to address the state of emergency in the river valley caused by sewage overflow on Jan. 22. The final funding package devotes an additional $4 million in county reserve funds to provide air purifiers for residents impacted by poor air quality.
The board also reaffirmed the countywide state of emergency declaration related to sewage flows from Mexico that pollute county waterways, beaches, and air. This declaration, first issued in June 2023, must be reviewed every 60 days, per state law.
Extending the emergency declaration allows the county to pursue public funding and coordinate with other agencies to address the pollution levels that continue to affect the communities near the border, such as Imperial Beach and San Ysidro.
The $2.5 million for the Saturn Boulevard pipeline extension and $2.25 million for public health studies allocations remain unchanged from the original proposal.
The additional $4 million in the final plan is intended to provide residents with short-term relief from toxic hydrogen sulfide gas, while long-term infrastructural changes are implemented. The Air Improvement Relief Effort Program will use the funds to expand the number of purifiers and filters available to affected communities. Since its establishment in 2024, AIRE has distributed over 10,000 purifiers to San Diego County residents.
Charles Rilli, deputy director of the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club, a nature conservation organization, spoke in support of the proposal in a public comment.
“We know these public health impacts go far beyond just the stench — now imagine if you were one of the residents who lived this every day,” Rilli said. “This is immoral. We must do everything in our power at the local level to immediately provide relief for all the region; we will not rest until the beaches are open and the residents can breathe clean air and have clean water 365 days a year.”
Lawson-Remer emphasized that this proposal is just the first step in addressing the crisis. The board will continue to monitor the conditions in the Tijuana River Valley and intend to bring additional actions to address the emergency, if necessary.
