WILDCOAST in Tijuana

At UBB, we love discovering hidden gems; finding forgotten beauty. But just as beautiful things are often hidden from view, so, too, are some of things that we’d rather not see. Challenges in dealing with wastewater are among these hidden challenges. Today’s blog post comes from like-minded San Diego-based organization, WILDCOAST, on some of the challenges managing water in border regions. It's written by one of their summer interns, Elena Keamy!

As a native San Diegan living in the northeast for college for the past 3 years, it seems at times that the issues facing my east and west coast homes are insurmountable. I just started my final year as an English and Environmental Studies double major at Bowdoin College, and just completed a summer as the U.S.-Mexico Border Coastal Program Intern at WiLDCOAST in San Diego, California. 


Through these experiences, I’ve discovered that these culturally, geographically, and environmentally dissimilar coasts share a common goal: the preservation and conservation of our oceans.

First, a bit about WiLDCOAST: Serge Dedina, co-founder and Executive Director, has built WiLDCOAST like a business, commoditizing the environment for its protection rather than its destruction. He recognized the allure, power, and economic opportunity offered by the Southern California lifestyle, something that has been packaged and sold by the multi-billion dollar surf industry. Everything from the name of the organization, WiLDCOAST, to the retro logo, annual surf competition, beachside location, rugged trips to rural Baja, and celebrity campaigns scream ‘California Cool’. More importantly, they generate a remarkable amount of attention and funding to conserve coastal and marine life in Southern California and Baja.


Although meeting pro surfers and eating street tacos in Tijuana were remarkably fun parts of my summer at WiLDCOAST, my most poignant experiences were our serious trips into Tijuana.  I accompanied my boss, Paloma Aguirre, into Tijuana to tour its wastewater treatment plants with local stakeholders and delivered a workshop on the Tijuana Watershed and pollution to 80 of Tijuana’s underserved youth. 

Before long, the similarities between east and west coast’s environmental issues began to manifest in unexpected ways. The maquiladoras (factories run by Americans) of Tijuana share striking similarities with the textile mills that dotted northeastern rivers in the late 19th century, guaranteeing work for scores of women but causing disastrous river pollution. Without the maquiladoras, women in the Tijuana region face steep unemployment. With them, the families in this region must also deal with intense pollution. 

Recently, CESPT (The State Public Services Commission of Tijuana) has been internationally recognized for bringing online two new state of the art wastewater treatment plants. But they still face monumental problems, such as trying to subsidize operation costs so that they can provide impoverished people living on the hillsides access to their piping. They also have some equipment that needs upgrading. 

During heavy rainfall, it becomes overwhelmed by sediment and waste tires carried by the river making it challenging to continuously treat the wastewater. Although there is an International Wastewater Treatment Plant at the borderline to collect cross-border river flow and treat it, the Tijuana River can swell up to a billion gallons of water per day (per day!) making it impossible to prevent wastewater from flowing out to sea. Thousands of tons of raw sewage, trash, and tires are washed into the Tijuana River Valley on the U.S. side, including the Tijuana Estuary and the coastal waters of Southern California, threatening at least nine endangered wildlife species and causing a public health threat to the people who live in the surrounding areas.   


 My experiences with WiLDCOAST introduced me to the complexity of water pollution as whole. In the case of the Tijuana River, these water pollution problems are exacerbated by the river’s presence in two bordering countries that are culturally and politically different. San Diego and Tijuana face a daunting task working to prioritize funding and attention to these issues, which requires fluidity and building partnerships on both sides of the border. 

I doubt I’ll be eating street tacos or attending any surf competitions anytime soon, but I know my work with WiLDCOAST will continue to resonate with me during my final year at Bowdoin. I’m proud to have been part of a bicoastal effort comprised of intelligent, genuine, and passionate individuals fighting for this common goal of clean water for all.