US, Mexico agree to fund border river cleanup projects

The United States and Mexico have agreed to fund projects to reduce wastewater pollution in the Tijuana River, seeking to end a longstanding transboundary sewage crisis. The Tijuana River flows through the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California and empties into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California in the United States.

The actions both countries committed to seek to "solve the Tijuana River wastewater problem once and for all," Mexico's environment minister Alicia Barcena said before signing a memorandum of understanding in Mexico City. Under the agreement, Mexico pledged to secure funding equivalent to $13.3 million to begin construction this year on a project to divert treated water effluent.