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Ground was broken by the California Water Boards for the New River project, despite voters approving $10M in 2018 via Proposition 68 & rejecting additional funding later in November.
The New River Project broke ground Friday, May 26, 2023, before Labor Day weekend. While it is hundreds of miles away from the San Fernando Valley it is funded in part by taxpayers of the SFV, with $10m via Proposition 68 which was passed in June 2018.
According to the California Water Boards March 2019 Press Release:
"The New River is a severely polluted waterway that flows north across the United States
Mexico border, through the city of Calexico, and continues to the Salton Sea, some 60 miles
away. Though discharges from U.S. sources are treated and disinfected to meet state and
federal standards, the water entering the country contains raw sewage, industrial, domestic
and agricultural wastes, trash and other solid pollutants, owing mostly to Mexicali’s
overburdened and deteriorating infrastructure. "
The CA Water Boards website suggested a $38M price tag in March 2019 at which time only $10m from Proposition 68 was "secured"as additional funds was rejected by voters.
Unlike the “fixes” to Mexicali’s sanitation system that were completed by 2007 and funded by
both countries, the New River Improvement Project currently is a California undertaking.
When ground was broken in May of 2023 the project price tag had increased 26% but funding had been secured, "nearly $48 million in investments from the state of California."
While Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia’s official website suggests "New River Funding Legislation Triumphs in Assembly" AB 2248, California-Mexico Border River Restoration (2022) it was rejected by Governor Newsom Sept 18, 2022. AB2248 would have allocated $100 million to address water quality problems at California-Mexico border rivers, with $50 million each for the New River, in Calexico and the Tijuana River, in San Diego.
Instead, the California EPA Water Boards May 2023 press release does not cite legislation which provided a path for the $48 million project, which is funded by the CA Government.
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