User:SaraVilma/sandbox

Wastewater Treatment
In February 2017, over 143 million gallons of sewage entered the river, larger than the usual few million gallons of sewage that is routine.[23] Later, the amount of was revised upwards to over 200 million gallons.[24] However, a Mexican water official claimed the spill was only 30 million gallons.[20] The spill is the largest to occur in over ten years.[25] The sewage spill was not initially reported by Mexican officials but was noticed by residents on the South Bay coast.[26] The impact of the spill affected waters as far north as Coronado, and was described by Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina as "a tsunami of sewage",[23][27] and "deliberate".[28] According to the International Boundary Water Commission, the sewage discharge was due to a repair of a sewer pipe near Rio Alamar.[23] The sewage was first noticed in the middle of the month.[29] Repairs of the sewer pipe were completed in late February 2017, but the exact dates when the sewage began and stopped entering the river were unknown as of March 2017, leading to calls for an investigation.[30] By mid-March 2017, the California Department of Environmental Health found the water quality had returned to within health standards, opening beaches up to Coronado.[31]

Current Water Improvements
Over 30 federal, local, state, private and other interested groups want to develop bi-national long terms goals to address wastewater treatment and debris-related improvements. One major initiative introduced in the United States on March 16, 2015, was Resolution R902015-0035, a Five-Year Action Plan that aimed to implement restorative projects over the span of five-years. The resolution was initially introduced by the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team (TRVRT) whose ultimate goal is to progress and implement strategies originally introduced in January 2012 under the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Strategy regulatory measures. Other restorative measures across the U.S include grants like the Community-based Marine Debris Removal Grant that brings organizations together in conjunction with community-based cleanups to remove trash and debris from the Tijuana River Valley. The debris removal grant began in 2014 and successfully removed over 400 tons of debris by 2016. A bi-national discussion on July 28, 2016 established upcoming proposed projects between the Border 2020 Tijuana River Watershed Task Force and the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team. These discussions continue the national environmental resolutions agreement under the 1983 La Paz Agreement that acknowledges the environmental and social responsibility of each country near its border regions. Under this treaty each country is under agreement to conserve, protect, and improve border regions for the overall well-being of the coinciding countries.