President Donald Trump on Wednesday raised concerns about two long-standing disputes with Mexico, involving the country’s promise to transfer more water to Texas farmers, and the stream of raw sewage into the Tijuana River.
“Mexico must take care of its water and sewage problem, IMMEDIATELY. It is a true Threat to the People of Texas, California, and the United States of America!” the president said in a post to Truth Social.
The two countries have bickered over water rights for years, due to accusations that Mexico has failed to fulfill the obligations of a 1944 treaty that mandated, in part, the transfer of water from international reservoirs located in Mexican tributaries to the U.S. In April, Mexico struck a deal over the matter with the Trump administration, promising to release more water to Texas farmers, but the president’s latest post indicates that significant concerns remain.
Trump’s Wednesday message also appeared to reference the Tijuana River dispute. The river has long faced issues due to millions of gallons of sewage that flow daily into the body of water, which starts in Mexico and streams into California’s water system.
Trump’s latest statement signals he believes Mexico is not moving fast enough on implementing an agreement it signed with the U.S. in July. Under the deal, which also promised to resolve concerns that essentially an open sewer was flowing through southern San Diego neighborhoods and near schools, Mexico agreed to allocate $93 million toward sanitation infrastructure and committed to providing a “permanent, 100% solution” to the water contamination crisis.
“The Trump administration is proud to deliver this massive environmental and national security win for Americans in the San Diego area who have been living with this disgusting raw sewage flowing into their communities for far too long,” Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement commenting on the agreement he signed with Mexican Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena Ibarra.
But experts say the contaminated river continues to sicken thousands of people in southern San Diego County, where officials described it as “one of, if not the most polluted, river in the entire United States.”
“The unintended consequence is that it’s exacerbating the release of all the molecules and aerosols into the air,” San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre told CalMatters earlier this month. “It’s literally rocketing them into the environment.”
Kim Prather, an atmospheric chemist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said that in addition to sewage, industrial chemicals from Mexican factories, including solvents, heavy metals, and toxins known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, are flowing into California’s portion of the Tijuana River.
“The river right now is a wastewater treatment plant without any processing,” she said in early December.
If precedent serves as an indicator of how Trump might tackle lingering sewage issues in the Tijuana River, the president could use tariffs to goad Mexico into faster action.
US REACHES DEAL WITH MEXICO TO SECURE MORE WATER FOR TEXAS FARMERS
The White House had previously sought to use levies on Mexico as leverage to pressure the country into targeting drugs flowing into the U.S. Trump has already threatened the country with a 5% tariff over the water rights debate in Texas.
“As of now, Mexico is not responding, and it is very unfair to our U.S. Farmers who deserve this much-needed water,” the president said Monday. “The longer Mexico takes to release the water, the more our Farmers are hurt. Mexico has an obligation to FIX THIS NOW.”
