Why this matters
The San Diego region is garnering national attention both for the environmental issues it is facing and for the role it may play in the green energy transition.
Recent storms hitting Southern California underscore the kinds of impacts residents of San Diego and Imperial counties and our neighbors in Mexico should brace themselves for in 2024.
They hit against the enduring backdrop of aging infrastructure, including a sewage crisis along the border, and the persistently high costs of powering and protecting our homes from the elements.
At the same time, international eyes are watching the region as energy producers dive deep below the Salton Sea in hopes of extracting lithium and powering a green future with a “white gold” rush.
Here are four things on the environment and energy beat to pay attention to this year.
South Bay and Tijuana sewage crisis
The flow of sewage down the Tijuana River, which impacts communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, is a decades old problem – but now it’s ever more acute.
Contaminated water has been flowing into the Pacific by the billions of gallons in recent years, and studies are showing that aerosols from that sewage are flowing back onto land laden with pollutants. Researchers are just beginning to get a grasp of how that may be affecting South San Diego and Tijuana residents.
Matters got even worse when the federally funded water treatment plant on the U.S.- Mexico border failed during Hurricane Hilary. Repairs to the South Bay International Water Treatment Plant, which processes wastewater flowing into the U.S. from Tijuana before discharging it into the ocean, are slated to cost up to $900 million. The International Boundary and Water Commission, which is responsible for the plant, has yet to secure the needed funding.
Politicians and activists have been calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency, which they say could help open up pathways to the funds needed to address the issues.
As of January, he hadn’t yet, saying the plant is under federal, not state, jurisdiction.
After years of raising concerns, the San Diego Coastkeeper and Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation have amped up the volume and sent the IBWC a notice of intent to sue.
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and Chula Vista Mayor John McCann went to Washington D.C. to push Congress to approve $310 million in emergency spending to help get the repairs on the treatment plant across the finish line.
But even if funding lines up, basic repairs will take months and will not stop all Tijuana River sewage waste from flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
The crisis is binational and has been brewing for years. Fast-pace growth in Tijuana outpaced the building out of the infrastructure to manage it. And for years, U.S. trade agreements have incentivized local and international companies to build factories in Tijuana, which have had a significant impact on the environment.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently put the rebuilding of the San Antonio de los Buenos treatment plant, another wastewater treatment plant in southwest Tijuana, into military hands to complete. The downed plant has been another key contributor to sewage flow that has affected the coastal region in the Californias.
With the border becoming ever more central to the upcoming 2024 elections, community advocates are pushing hard to keep eyes on the humanitarian aspect of the crisis and away from partisan politics.
Lithium Valley
As the push for transitioning to green energy in California continues, eyes across the nation are focused on Imperial Valley’s “white gold” – the vast reserves of lithium under the Salton Sea. Last year, inewsource reported on what’s at stake in the outgrowth of the lithium industry in Imperial County.
Lithium, a crucial metal for making batteries, has become a key ingredient for the push toward electrification and the move away from fossil fuels. For years it has been known that a vast reserve of it lies in the geothermal brines below the Salton Sea, but the technology to extract it efficiently has not existed. That could be changing.
Three main companies, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, EnergySource Minerals and the Australian-based firm Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR), have been racing to develop cost-efficient extraction methods.
This month, CTR commenced construction on its lithium extraction facility, marking what many see as a new and more concrete chapter in the development of “lithium valley.” Almost at the same time, it was handed a notice of intent to sue by the Comite Civico del Valle, a prominent community advocacy group in Imperial Valley. The Comite is among those that have been advocating on behalf of residents of the valley.
The group says that not enough environmental studies were carried out to understand the impact on local communities which are already suffering from high respiratory illness and cancer rates. They have also raised concerns about the project’s dependency on Colorado River water, the risk of earthquakes and long-term plans for the disposal of hazardous waste.
Though the lawsuit may do little more than slow construction, it encapsulates a key question when it comes to lithium in our neighboring county: As companies set their sights on profits, and locals look to what benefits may or may not come their way, how will the region brace for the changes afoot?
Imperial County residents are already grappling with a failing public health system that is undergoing a redistricting process. As El Centro Regional Medical Center, one of the key local healthcare providers, struggles with finances, critical and emergency health resources are diminishing. Last year its obstetrics and pediatrics units shutdown, inewsource reported.
SDG&E v. Public Power
In recent years, San Diego has had the highest electricity rates in the country – and last year that status made news nationwide. But another story unfolding here also resonates nationally – San Diego’s movement for taking the power grid into public hands.
San Diego community members and organizations such as SanDiego350 are rallying behind a petition to let voters decide if the power grid should be run by a community centered nonprofit or continue with the private company.
They need 80,000 signatures to make the 2024 ballot.
Though activists are hoping to turn the tides over who owns the community’s power, as of now it’s a David and Goliath story. Investor-owned San Diego Gas & Electric has dominated power lines in the region for years.
A lawsuit that would have voided SDG&E’s controversial longtime franchise agreement with the City of San Diego was recently dismissed. The agreement will automatically renew in 10 years for an additional decade if city officials don’t vote to end it.
As inewsource has reported, SDG&E’s high rates have led to protests over the years. In 2024, we may see an alternative on the ballot.
Disaster Insurance
With climate-related disasters on the rise, home and car insurance is increasingly hard to come by in California. Last year, State Farm announced the company would no longer sell new policies in the state. Soon after Allstate announced a pause.
The issue has triggered conversation around the nation and has contributed to upcoming changes in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s methods of distributing disaster relief funds which have come under criticism for decades.
Starting in March, the agency will provide upfront cash payments to eligible disaster survivors, cutting back on some of the administrative barriers that have infamously slowed the delivery of relief.
In San Diego, wildfires have threatened and destroyed neighborhoods, but after the storm water system failed throughout the city, flooding has come into focus as a threat to property, especially in low-lying, low-income communities.
When the storms hit, inewsource compiled a list of options for what individuals impacted by the floods can do. But home insurance rarely covers flood related damage, leaving many San Diegans with limited options to recover their losses.
Whether San Diegans will be eligible for disaster relief funds remains to be seen, and all eyes will be on FEMA come March.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
