Discharge from new sewage plants feared

By Sandra Dibble

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

December 12, 2007

TIJUANA – Two new sewage treatment plants expected to open next year have been hailed as important projects for Tijuana's rapidly growing eastern neighborhoods. But in California, the plants have raised fears that their discharge would damage an important wetland downstream in Imperial Beach.

The future plants, known as Monte de los Olivos and La Morita, will discharge into the Tijuana River. The treated water – up to 16.1 million gallons daily – will flow toward the U.S.-Mexico border. If nothing is done, it will cross into the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, a federally protected wetland.