Trump EPA slashes Tijuana sewage crisis timeline by 12 years for San Diego
EPA and Mexico meet on Tijuana wastewater crisis
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin joins “Fox News Live” to discuss the Biden era’s rollback of environmental policies, the U.S.-Mexico wastewater crisis in Tijuana and his recent meeting with an Israeli diplomat killed weeks later.
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The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday that it has saved additional months in construction efforts to address a chronic wastewater crisis seeping into the San Diego area from Mexico.
“The Trump Administration is doing everything in its power to urgently and permanently deliver the 100 percent solution to the Tijuana River wastewater crisis that Southern Californians have been calling for for decades,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said Thursday in a press release provided to Fox News Digital.
Sewage has been coming to San Diego from the border in Tijuana, Mexico, for decades. The situation has been described as a crisis by local leaders and residents as the sewage impacts the city’s tourism and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, where Navy SEALs train.
SEALs, who are required to spend hours in the ocean as part of their training, have reported serious illnesses from contaminated water, including acute gastrointestinal illnesses.
Mexico to dump millions of gallons of sewage into Tijuana River, US continues to be a dumping ground: official
The crisis is blamed on outdated wastewater treatment infrastructure, strained by the growing population of Tijuana, Mexico, which grew by about 188% between 1990 and 2025 alone, according to figures compiled by the Mexican government and local universities.
Lee Zeldin on Capitol Hill for his Senate confirmation as EPA administrator. (Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press)
The EPA announced Thursday that it had completed a 100-day review of all projects associated with correcting the wastewater crisis and wastewater treatment infrastructure along the border, and found that it had reduced the completion time for two other projects by an additional nine months, meaning about 12 years of total construction time was shaved from the project.
“Important new progress to account for efforts to implement a 100% permanent solution to end the decades-long Tijuana River wastewater crisis: Today, EPA announces a total nine-month reduction in timelines for two additional key projects on the Mexican side of the border: the rehabilitation of Pump Station 1 and the reconstruction of the Tijuana River Gates,” Zeldin posted on X of the announcement.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent patrols in a truck along the U.S.-Mexico border wall at Imperial Beach in San Diego on January 25, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Cleaning up the wastewater crisis in Tijuana, Mexico, was among Zeldin’s top priorities during the first months of his tenure as head of the EPA, traveling to San Diego and Mexico in April to assess the situation and meet with local leaders.
Raw sewage from Tijuana flows into the San Diego area, causing the spread of disease among SEALs and candidates. (Rob Sweetman)
Zeldin and his Mexican counterpart, Mexico’s Secretary of Environment and National Resources, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, signed a memorandum of understanding in July that streamlines the two governments’ efforts to address the crisis.
The MOU allows the Minute 328 Agreement, which is a 2022 agreement between the United States and Mexico through the International Boundary and Water Commission, to address the wastewater crisis with 17 sanitation infrastructure projects.
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Trump’s EPA said the Minute 328 deal “does not go far enough to achieve the 100 percent solution that San Diego-area residents are so desperate for,” prompting the Trump administration to launch a comprehensive review of the projects and streamline their completion.
The Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) class participates in a surf pass training exercise at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California. (Getty Images)
The July MOU called for Mexico to dedicate millions of dollars in unused Minute 328 funding to wastewater treatment projects, as well as developing a reduced timeline for the completion of remaining Minute 328 projects and defining other projects for Mexico to prepare for further increases in Tijuana’s population in the coming years. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes that all Minute 328 projects must be completed no later than December 31, 2027.
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“Reducing timelines for existing infrastructure projects is a sign of great progress and demonstrates how closely the United States and Mexico are adhering to the responsibilities agreed to in the July Memorandum of Understanding,” Zeldin said Thursday. “Through intensive collaboration, we were able to cut red tape, identify efficiencies, and overcome bureaucratic hurdles. Although significant construction lies ahead, this represents a critical step in our commitment to protecting American communities from cross-border pollution.”
