"Mexican and American officials met in Mexico City this week to talk about fixing a costly set of problems that have sprung up along the border: failing sewer systems that send raw sewage spilling into rivers.
The meetings on Monday and Tuesday involved diplomats, water officials, and the top Mexican and U.S. representatives of the binational International Boundary and Water Commission.
Several Mexican border cities — including Tijuana, Mexicali, and Naco — have sewer systems that are overburdened and deteriorating. Spills of untreated sewage have prompted the closing of California beaches near the mouth of the Tijuana River and have left residents in California’s Imperial Valley coping with the stench of the New River.
Roberto Salmón, Mexico’s commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission, said border cities from Tijuana to Matamoros need a total of about 10 billion pesos, or $520 million, “just to bring the sanitary systems up to speed, to correct the problems.”"
