The United States signs the memorandum of understanding with Mexico on the sewage crisis, Tijuana

On Thursday, the United States and Mexico took cooperative steps towards curbing a long -term environmental crisis across the border: the flow of unrestricted wastewater from Tijuana to southern California.

Lee Zildin and his Mexican counterpart, Elisia Parsina Ebara, signed a memorandum of understanding (Memorandum of Understanding), which dealt with “consequences of environmental health, public security and national security” for transit waste water pollution.

The officials of his intentions expressed “permanently stopping the uninhabited wastewater from polluted coastal societies”, while reaffirming the previous obligations and adopting new strategic projects.

“What the residents of California needed and deserved, and what they were waiting for, for a long time, not just a solution is the other aid for that moment, but a 100 percent permanent solution,” Zilden told reporters from Mexico City before the signing.

The crisis in the heart of the Memorandum of Understanding includes the passage of contaminated sewage from Mexico to the southern province of San Diego across the ocean columns and the Tijuana River.

This genetic flow – which is filled with both pathogens and toxic chemicals – stems from insufficient treatment near Tijuana. For years, these circumstances have closed the beaches and the sick navy seals.

After the demands of the Democrats in California in March, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency visits the region, Zeladen did so in April – and demanded that Mexico stop the situation.

Zeldin stated, and he mentioned his previous visit to reporters on Thursday, and the smell of “that unpleasant smell that many of the population of Southern California were complaining for a long time.”

He said that when leaving the area, there was “a burning desire for the Trump administration to devote a huge amount of energy, to ensure that the residents of Southern California will receive this good news as soon as possible.”

He explained that the administration gave priority to three major landmarks – all of which received the approval of Mexico in the Memorandum of Understanding on Thursday.

The first, which was about the distinguished commitment of Mexico to allocate 93 million dollars to complete the water infrastructure projects specified in a previous treaty, called Minute 328.

In the Memorandum of Understanding, Mexico expressed its intention to spend $ 46 million in 2026 and 47 million dollars in 2027 on these initiatives, which include a large rehabilitation of wastewater treatment channels, pumps, reserve energy supplies and other equipment.

According to Zeldin, the second main column focused on expediting the timelines for completing projects faster. As such, the Memorandum of Understanding contains the construction schedules for the 2026 and 2027 year of construction, and adheres to the “project priority schedule”.

Zilden said that the third goal of the Memorandum of Understanding is the condition that the United States and Mexico will seek to participate in a new agreement – a new “minute” – in new initiatives necessary to overcome the finish line. “

The parties, according to the Memorandum of Understanding Award, intend to secure that moment by December 31 and implement their actions immediately, through existing or new bilateral work groups.

“This is not just an agreement for the year 2025,” said Zealin. “It was the product of a conversation about where we need to be in 2030, 2035 and beyond.”

However, the Memorandum of Understanding includes some immediate procedures for 2025, such as Mexico’s pledge to convert 10 million gallons per day of treated wastewater from ARTURO Herrera and La Marita to another location from the Rodriguez Dam – at an internal cost of $ 13.3 million.

Mexico also agreed to rehabilitate the sewage mosque known as the “parallel gravitational line” for about $ 8.42 million.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency also confirmed President Trump’s personal passion for solving this crisis, noting that “anything of this was possible” without his participation.

Zealin recalled that after Trump heard a story about the effects of environmental and national security on the seals, the president concluded that he “wanted to accomplish this.”

In response to the announcement of the Memorandum of Understanding, Tom Kernan, President and CEO of America River, described the partnership in a statement as a “huge step forward to the Tijuana River.”

Kernan added: “We appreciate the Trump administration’s dedicated efforts to restore this river to the vibrant resource that was once.”

“Societies along the Tijuana River have suffered from this public health crisis for a very long time,” added Krostan Colbert, assistant director of the organization in preserving the California River.

“We hope and optimistic that the Trump administration will be a catalyst for a major transformation of this river,” said Colbert.