The Bajagua Project: Finding a Solution to the San Diego-Tijuana Sewage Crisis

This Comment discusses the problem of raw and partially treated sewage flowing from the Tijuana River into the San Diego region. The author begins by explaining how the problem was created by a population growth in Tijuana and a lack of an adequate sewage system. The author then goes on to discuss historical developments and lessons learned from past attempts to alleviate this problem. Next, the author examines the Bajagua project, an effort to solve the problem by constructing a large secondary treatment in Mexico. The author argues that this is the most comprehensive solution because of the added benefit of water reclamation. Then, the author discusses many of the legal obstacles of the IBWC to this solution, including a lack of congressional funding and the lack of Mexican support. The author concludes that the problem will only be fixed through judicial or congressional action and that the IBWC should be held in contempt of Congress for its intentional circumvention of the Tijuana River Act