Coronado City Council
February 6, 2024

1 NLCRESOLUTION2024-14
2 3 INCREASE FUNDING FOR BORDER WATER INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS 4 5 WHEREAS, international trans boundary rivers on the southern border of the United States are a 6 major source of sewage, trash, chemicals, heavy metals and toxins; and 7 8 WHEREAS, transboundary flows threaten the health of 18 million residents in the United States 9 and Mexico, harm important estuarine land and water of international significance, force closure 10 of beaches, damage farmland, compromise border security, and directly affect U.S. military 11 readiness; and
12 13 WHEREAS, a significant amount of untreated sewage, sediment, hazardous chemicals and trash 14 have entered United States waters, via the Tijuana and New Rivers in southern California, the 15 Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers in Arizona and the Rio Grande in Texas, eventually draining 16 into coastal waterways, waterbodies and inland waters, such as the Salton Sea; and 17 18 WHEREAS, the presence of pollution on state and federal public lands is creating unsafe 19 conditions for visitors and residents- these lands are taxpayer supported and intended to be 20 managed for recreation, resource conservation and the enjoyment by the public, and 21 22 WHEREAS, the current insufficient and degrading infrastructure in the border zone poses a 23 significant risk to the public health and safety of residents and the environment on both sides of 24 the border, and places the economic stress on cities that are struggling to mitigate the negative 25 impacts of pollution; and
26 27 WHEREAS, the 1944 treaty between the United States and Mexico regarding Utilization of 28 Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande allocates flows on transborder 29 rivers between Mexico and the United States, and provides that the nations, through their 30 respective sections of the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) shall give control 31 of sanitation in cross border flows the highest priority; and 32 33 WHEREAS, in 1993, the United States and Mexico entered into the Agreement Between the 34 Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Mexican States 35 Concerning the Establishment of a North American Development Bank which created the North 36 American Development Bank (NADB) to certify and fund environmental infrastructure projects 37 in border-area communities; and
38 39 WHEREAS, on November 30, 2018 the United States, Mexico and Canada entered into the 40 Agreement Between The United States of America, The United Mexican States, And Canada to 41 replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, and on December 10, 2019 the United States, 54 Attachment 2
42 Mexico and Canada agreed to a protocol of amendment to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement 43 (USMCA), which became effective in the United States on January 29, 2020; and 44 45 WHEREAS, the implementing language ofUSMCA authorizes and allocates funding for grants 46 under the U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Program (BWIP), the Trade Enforcement 47 Trust Fund and recapitalization of the NADB, including $300 million to address the problem of 48 toxic sewage flowing from the Tijuana River watershed; and 49 50 WHEREAS, the increase in commerce and traffic across the border has resulted in economic 51 benefits for both the U.S. and Mexico; and
52 53 WHEREAS, the ease of trade and commerce has resulted in increased vehicle and factory 54 emissions, which negatively impact the water quality, land quality and air quality of the areas 55 along the southern border; and
56 57 WHEREAS, border communities need modernized and innovative water infrastructure to 58 provide clean and sanitary drinking water to improve the quality of living and support the 59 expanding communities; and
60 61 WHEREAS, the adverse environmental impact will worsen existing environmental issues and 62 the strain on aging infrastructure, while also creating new environmental issues in the future; and 63 64 WHEREAS, the widespread threat to public health and safety, damage to fish and wildlife 65 resources and degradation to the environment caused by transboundary pollution in the border 66 states requires urgent action by the federal and state governments; and 67 68 WHEREAS, Congress authorized funding under the Safe Drinking Water Act and established 69 the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) program for the U.S.-Mexico Border Water 70 Infrastructure Program in 1996 to provide grants for high-priority water, wastewater, and 71 stormwater infrastructure projects within 100 kilometers of the southern border; and 72 73 WHEREAS, the EPA administers the STAG and BWIP, and coordinates with the NADB to 74 allocate BWIP grant funds to projects in the border zone; and 75 76 WHEREAS, since its inception, the BWIP has provided funding for projects in California, 77 Arizona, New Mexico and Texas that would not have been constructed without the grant 78 program; and
79 80 WHEREAS, the BWIP program was initially funded at $100 million per year, but, over the last 81 20 years, the program has been significantly reduced to $30 million in FY21,$32 million in FY22 82 and $36 million in FY23; and
83 55
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84 WHEREAS, officials from EPA Region 6 and 9 identified a multitude ofBWIP-eligible projects 85 along the southern border totaling over $300 million; and 86 87 WHEREAS, Mexico has identified multiple projects totaling hundreds of millions of dollars that 88 would benefit from BWIP funding; and
89 90 WHEREAS, Mexico is proceeding with its proposed new projects to address transboundary 91 sewage flows but is awaiting United States approval and funding of the $600 million United 92 States infrastructure projects previously identified by both countries to fully address the 93 transboundary pollution in the border states; and
94 95 WHEREAS, the United States, has not paid necessary IBWC operating and maintenance costs 96 for the last several years, causing the breakdown of existing infrastructure and a backlog of $150 97 million in overdue maintenance projects; and
98 99 WHEREAS, the pollution from transboundary sewage flows were spread even farther north in 100 the Pacific Ocean by Hurricane Hilary on August 19-20, 2023 because the infrastructure has not 101 been maintained and new needed facilities have not been built; and 102
103 WHEREAS, without federal partnership through the BWIP and state support to address 104 pollution, cities that are impacted by transboundary sewage and toxic waste flows are left with 105 limited resources to address a critical pollution and public health issue and limited legal remedies 106 to address the problem; and
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108 WHEREAS, Mexico benefits from the bi-national funding program and relies on the NADB to 109 assist in funding projects on the Mexico side of the border, which have an immediate and long110 term environmental impact along the border in the U.S. due to the upstream, transboundary flows 111 of the major rivers; and
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113 WHEREAS, local governments and the public support the State's primary objectives in 114 complying with environmental laws including the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act, 115 and their state law analogues, and are supported by substantial public investments at all levels of 116 government to maintain a healthy and sustainable environment for the future. 117
118 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National League of Cities urges the Federal 119 government to continue to fund the Border Water Infrastructure Program, and to recommit to 120 working bi-nationally to develop and implement long-term solutions to address serious water 121 quality and contamination issues, such as discharges of untreated sewage and polluted sediment 122 and trash-laden transboundary flows originating from Mexico, resulting in significant health, 123 environmental, and safety concerns of affected communities. 56 Attachment 2