The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mexico in Mexico City on Thursday to resolve the Tijuana River sewage crisis, a decades-old danger to human health and the environment impacting Southern California.
EPA Administrator Zeldin has made tackling the Tijuana River sewage crisis a priority, noting that waste from Mexico has contaminated the San Diego area for decades. Zeldin told reporters Thursday that the new MOU will bring about a “100% solution” to the situation through a three-pronged strategy that includes investment from Mexico, expedited infrastructure projects and a new resources agreement.
“We didn’t want to come here at the end, and we don’t want to leave at the end. We wanted to come here, sign this agreement, and report back the great news to all the millions of concerned residents in Southern California — the Trump administration is promptly delivering,” Zeldin said. “This isn’t just an agreement for 2025 — this is an agreement that was the product of a conversation about where do we need to be in 2030, 2035, and beyond.”
In Mexico City now, on behalf of the USA and Trump Admin, I am signing a detailed Memorandum of Understanding with Mexico to achieve a 100% PERMANENT and URGENT solution to the decades old Tijuana River Sewage Crisis! The Trump Admin’s top 3 goals/milestones in this agreement…
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) July 24, 2025
Since October 2023, 31 billion gallons of raw sewage and waste have spewed down the Tijuana River into the Tijuana River Valley and the Pacific Ocean, according to the San Diego Coastkeeper. Several beaches in San Diego have been shuttered over the years, including earlier this month, due to high bacteria levels, according to the San Diego Coastkeeper and multiple reports.
The three-pillar strategy designed to permanently solve the problem includes ensuring that Mexico obligates $93 million to address the crisis as settled in the U.S.-Mexico Minute 328 agreement, guaranteeing that Mexico evaluates relevant infrastructure projects within 100 days to ensure a speedy completion and calls for a new Minute agreement, according to the MOU.
“The follow-through needs to be total. It needs to be fast. It needs to be urgent. It needs to be with unlimited dedication and passion,” Zeldin said.
Zeldin visited San Diego to inspect the Tijuana River sewage crisis in April, touring multiple locations to observe the impacts and damage from the Mexican waste. Along the tour was the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, and several Navy SEALs have reportedly gotten sick after training off the coast of San Diego, possibly from the Mexican sewage.
“I’m so excited to be in Mexico City, because I know how important this is to the residents of Southern California and all of us in the Trump administration,” Zeldin said, adding that when he visited Southern California, he met with “proud Americans who are looking for leadership and action from the Trump administration. It included people who voted for President Trump and people who didn’t vote for President Trump. And our efforts here are to deliver for everyone.”
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