SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is scheduled to visit the Tijuana region on Saturday to tour several government-funded construction projects in the area.
One stop will take place at a wastewater treatment plant 5 miles south of the border that was supposed to be finished last month.
When done, the facility, known as Planta de San Antonio de los Buenos, is expected to treat millions of gallons of sewage-tainted water now flowing into canyons and the ocean.
A lot of this effluent ends up north of the border contaminating the Tijuana River Valley and the Pacific Ocean, forcing the closure of miles of beaches on the U.S. side.
Mexico’s Defense Secretary, which is in charge of the construction, says the goal is to finish the project by the end of November.
There is fear on both sides of the border the facility won’t be done in time to avoid the rainy season, which begins in December.
This is historically the time of the year when there are large discharges of raw sewage into storm drains throughout the city of Tijuana.
Recently, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre said she was worried the plant won’t come online by the beginning of 2025.
“We will not only see the regular flow in the river, but an additional 40-80 million gallons of untreated sewage per day,” Aguirre said.
Once the plant is done, it will still take another two to three weeks to test the operational system further delaying its opening, according to the National Water Commission in Tijuana.
When she visits, Sheinbaum is expected to see the progress or lack thereof, in person.
She is also scheduled to tour the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry, a project that is almost complete on the Mexican side of the border.
It was supposed to open last month, but work on the U.S. side has yet to begin and is said to be two years behind schedule.
Finally, Sheinbaum will be given a tour of an elevated roadway expected to connect Tijuana’s coastal neighborhoods to the city’s airport, bypassing the congested downtown area.
This highway is also expected to improve traffic flow to and from the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Completion date for this project is the middle of 2025.
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