For decades, the wastewater system in Tijuana, Mexico, has been overwhelmed by an expanding population, and when storms arrive, hundreds of millions of gallons of diluted wastewater flow over the border into San Diego, California.
After all this time, a solution could be on the way, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has earmarked $300 million for water quality projects along the border. Baja California officials say they’re making progress on a water recycling plant, and another project replacing an aging wastewater treatment plant 6 miles south of the border broke ground recently.
EPA officials say exact timelines for the improvements aren’t known, but that the agency is cautiously optimistic for the future.
Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Requests Emergency Funding Amid Water Crisis
Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba wrote a letter to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves in early March to request around $47 million in emergency funding for the state to deal with its ongoing water crisis related to the recent winter storms.
Lumumba asks for state and federal funding for a number of infrastructure projects in the letter, titled “An Urgent Request for Assistance.”
“As you are aware, the extreme weather conditions that occurred severely compromised our ability to produce and distribute water at our (water treatment plants), depriving residents and businesses of water,” Lumumba writes, according to the Clarion Ledger.
EPA Announces $727 Million Loan to Portland Water Bureau
At a virtual event with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and other dignitaries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its largest Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to date — a $727 million loan to the Portland Water Bureau in Portland, Oregon.
The loan will help finance the Bull Run Treatment Program to improve drinking water quality and reliability for nearly 1 million people by better controlling contaminants and lead while bolstering the system’s climate resiliency.
The City of Portland’s Bull Run Treatment Program will construct a new filtration water treatment plant to remove the microorganism Cryptosporidium and other potential contaminants and water pipelines to connect the filtration facility to existing conduits. In addition, it will implement improved corrosion control treatment to further adjust the chemistry of Portland’s water and reduce potential levels of lead at the tap.
