San Diego Tijuana Water Ecademic

¶ … San Diego-Tijuana water epidemic. The writer of this paper presents the history as well as the current factors involved in the problem. There were six sources used to complete this paper.

In recent decades the world has come to realize that the earth's resources are not comprised of a bottomless pit. It has been acknowledged that there are resources that are threatening to run out or contaminate so that they can no longer be useful to mankind. One of the most important resources the world has is the water supply. Without water the world would perish, therefore it is vital to maintain a clean and well cared for system at all times. The San Diego Tijuana water supply is under a constant threat of contamination as well as other problems. A drought that refuses to lift limits the amount of water available to the areas and the water that is received must be preserved. In addition to nature's timetable a troubles with water there is a dispute between San Diego and Tijuana about water ownership and water use (McDonnell A 25). The Tijuana area is frequently dependent on the U.S. For its water supply, which in turn short circuits the water availability to the San Diego area as well as other areas. As time moves forward it is becoming more important than ever before to resolve the epidemic and dispute so that both areas can enjoy nature's resource and provide for its residents' needs.

The problems are not a new occurrence. There have been disputes about water consumption, ownership and cost for over half a century between Mexico and the United States (Drought PG 56). A lingering drought that seems unable to lift in northern and central Mexico has added to the problem and magnified the impact of the dispute between the United States and Mexico regarding the problem. However that is not the bulk of the problem in the San Diego area. The San Diego area has a problem with the water it gets from the Tijuana River Valley being polluted. This is a serious issue as the area cannot afford to waste the precious resource that it is receiving but polluted water does nothing to help those who live in the area. The dispute between the San Diego and Tijuana area is the Mexican sewage that is being allowed to flow into the river, which in turn is used, by both sides of the border (Drought PG 56).

San Diego and Tijuana are at odds. The untreated sewage of Mexico, that comes mostly from the residents who live there, is being allowed to flow into the Tijuana River Valley at the rate of 13-15 million gallons per day (Drought PG 56). This drainage of sewage into the Tijuana River Valley not only puts a strain on the Mexican side of the border but also on the United States side of the border as well. The river drains onto the San Diego side of the border and has been for almost 60 years thus far. As the world begins to understand the permanent impact of such pollution, experts in the San Diego area turn a watchful eye to the problem and are scrambling to address it. Because of the increased population in the Mexico Tijuana area there is more sewage being dumped than ever before and in recent years the problems has grown by leaps and bounds (San Diego Water Pollution (SANDIEGO) (http://ask.elibrary.com/getdoc.asp?pubname).Asrecently as 1993 there was a health quarantine imposed at Imperial Beach in California for over 140 days. The cause was the sewage flowing from the Tijuana River Valley, which was contaminating the San Diego area. This quarantine had a strong impact on the tourism revenue in the San Diego each area (Drought PG 56). With each passing year the sewage problem gets worse and the income costs to the San Diego area get larger. Currently the cost to the San Diego area in lost tourist revenue tops $100 million each year. In 1990 the problem seemed to come to a head and the two cities agreed on a solution. The 1990 agreement was for the United States and Mexico to share the cost of a border facility that would cost an estimated $200 million. Its function would be to stop the flow of sewage water from Tijuana to the San Diego area (Drought PG 56).

The city of San Diego also prepared its own side-by-side blockade that was to be placed next to the dual federal wall. San Diego later cancelled those plans and this prompted the federal governments to delay the program until 1998. Citing San Diego's change in construction plans as well as the famed San Diego flood troubles the plans were placed on hold until at least 1998, which consequently cost the city of San Diego many tourist revenue dollars (Drought PG 56). In recent years environmentalists have determined the problem is getting worse and the quality of the water being contaminated continues to deteriorate (State, PG).

Water quality is deteriorating along the border largely due to over development (Drought PG 56). In 1991, the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association described the border region as "a virtual cesspool" of pollution and disease, noting that 46 million liters (about 13-15 million gallons) of raw sewage flow each day into the Tijuana River. Much of the sewage that enters the river in Mexico and crosses the border, sometimes referred to as "renegade" flows, and travels through aged, inadequate or non- existent pipelines (San Diego Water Pollution (SANDIEGO) (http://ask.elibrary.com/getdoc.asp?pubname)."

In addition to the raw sewage contamination there is now a large mosquito problem because the breeding is out of control due to the desirable sewage areas for them to breed in. Beaches are becoming dangerous as swimmers are now in danger of contracting several diseases including Hepatitis, and dysentery (Drought PG 56). One of the most common illnesses that swimmers in the area suffer from is gastroenteritis (Drought PG 56). It is an illness that causes severe stomach cramping, diarrhea, vomiting and fever. The swimmers are contracting this in the San Diego waters because of the sewage being dumped there out of the Tijuana water system.

The release of sewage particles into the water, called organic loading, can block sunlight and in the process prevent normal plant growth and photosynthesis. Sediment that settles on the ocean floor can kill off bottom-feeders like brittle stars, sea urchins, starfish, sea worms, clams, and mollusks as well as an entire generation of kelp plants (Drought PG 56)."