California officials are pleading for a national emergency declaration over the Tijuana River sewage crisis, which has endured for years and shows no signs of abating.
At a Glance
- California state lawmakers are urging President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency over the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
- A legislative resolution, AJR 16, has passed unanimously out of a key committee and is heading for a full vote.
- For years, billions of gallons of raw sewage and toxic waste have flowed from Mexico into Southern California, causing beach closures and public health emergencies.
- Local leaders have criticized the previous Biden administration for its alleged inaction on the long-standing environmental disaster.
California’s Plea for Federal Intervention
After years of grappling with a cross-border environmental disaster, California lawmakers are now urging President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency over the toxic sewage flowing from Mexico into the Tijuana River Valley. A bipartisan resolution, AJR 16, which calls for federal intervention and financial support, has passed unanimously out of the state’s Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and is now headed for a full vote in the Assembly.
The resolution’s sponsor, Assemblymember David Alvarez (D-San Diego), is sounding the alarm about the “environmental injustice facing communities, which have endured beach closures, air and water contamination, and diminished economic activity,” according to a report from the Latin Times.
A Decades-Long Disaster
For decades, border communities in Southern California, particularly Imperial Beach, have suffered from the relentless flow of contamination from the Tijuana River. It is estimated that over 200 billion gallons of toxic wastewater have streamed across the border since 2018 alone. The pollution has forced the closure of beaches for hundreds of consecutive days, sickened U.S. Navy SEALs training in the area, and created a persistent public health crisis.
DOD report links sewage discharges into Tijuana River with over 1100 cases of nausea, vomiting and other health issues reported by NavySEALs after service members trained in polluted water. We need clean water for all now. #MostEndangeredRiversof2024 https://t.co/ilxFtQz1b3
— American Rivers (@americanrivers) February 19, 2025
The city of Imperial Beach has been under a self-declared state of emergency since 2017. The city’s mayor, Paloma Aguirre, has been a vocal critic of what she calls the federal government’s inaction on the crisis, particularly under the previous Biden administration.
A Call for Urgent Action
The new legislative push is an attempt to force a more urgent response from the federal government. “This is not just a water issue. Study upon study have found that it is a public health emergency, which demands a national response,” Alvarez said in a statement. “We are calling on President Donald J. Trump and Congress to act with the urgency and scale that this disaster demands.”
The Trump administration has signaled it is taking the issue seriously. Trump’s EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, has visited the region and is reportedly in negotiations with Mexico on a comprehensive solution. The White House has stated it is taking a “whole of government approach” to tackle the crisis.
