From Surfrider: Clean Border Water Now Lawsuit Settlement:
Dangerous pollutants (including sewage, chemicals, heavy metals, physical trash and other contaminants), flow through the Tijuana River Valley and into the Pacific in south San Diego County, forcing closures of local beaches nearly 300 days per year. The lawsuit settlement alongside EPA programs on the border will ensure that over 75% of contaminated pollution flows are reduced year-round and beach closures due to water quality impairment can be reduced by 95% in summer months.
The settlement calls of the following:
- Support construction of a main channel temporary berm in the Tijuana River channel in Mexico to prevent or minimize dry weather flow events;
- Improve canyon collector operations, including daily inspections, maintenance, response equipment, catch basins, and trash booms;
- Increase cross-border communications, planning and reporting;
Improve water quality monitoring; and- Regular removal of polluting material from the main channel of the Tijuana River.
