Tijuana Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects

On this page:

Sewer Rehabilitation Project
Master Plan for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
Additional Resources

The municipality of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, is located on the U.S.-Mexico border just south of San Diego County. With a local population estimated at 1.2 million, the Tijuana region is growing rapidly, and the local water and wastewater infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the rapid development. Large volumes of untreated wastewater occasionally flow into the Tijuana River valley and canyons crossing the border, posing serious risks to public health and the environment in the United States.

EPA is working in cooperation with the Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana (CESPT) to address Tijuana's water and wastewater infrastructure needs. In two projects currently underway, EPA is providing funding to rehabilitate portions of Tijuana's sewer system and develop a master plan for water and wastewater services in the region.

The Tijuana Sewer Rehabilitation Project

The Tijuana Sewer Rehabilitation Project, known locally as Tijuana Sana (Healthy Tijuana), is a four-year project to rehabilitate or replace deteriorated sewer pipes in Tijuana. The project was certified by the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) at its October 2001 Board Meeting, and work commenced in early 2002. Work on the Tijuana Sewer Rehabilitation Project is taking place concurrently with the development of the Tijuana Master Plan (the Master Plan is available below).

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The Tijuana Master Plan for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure

The Potable Water and Wastewater Master Plan for Tijuana and Playas de Rosarito provides a long-term planning strategy for water and wastewater infrastructure in the Tijuana-Playas de Rosarito area. The Plan develops and analyzes alternatives for meeting Tijuana's water and wastewater infrastructure needs over the next twenty years. The Master Plan and associated Environmental Assessment are available below.

Master Plan Fact Sheet (PDF) (2 pp, 18K)

Master Plan Documents

Download the ZIP collection of the files listed below (includes all 32 PDF files; 29 MB)

Cover, Volume 1 (PDF) (1 pg, 311K)
Introduction, Table of Contents, Section 1 (PDF) (15 pp, 444K)
Section 2 (PDF) (62 pp, 15M)
Section 3.1 - 3.2 (PDF) (13 pp, 616K)
Section 3.3.7 - 3.5.5 (PDF) (21 pp, 533K)
Section 3c (PDF) (6 pp, 3M)
Section 4 (PDF) (10 pp, 90K)
Section 5 (PDF) (16 pp, 574K)
Section 6 (PDF) (48 pp, 964K)

Section 7 (PDF) (29 pp, 1.4M)
Section 8 (PDF) (23 pp, 1.3M)
Section 9 (PDF) (19 pp, 94K)
Section 10 (PDF) (48 pp, 1.3M)
Section 11 (PDF) (27 pp, 1.1M)
Section 12 (PDF) (80 pp, 2.0K)
Section 13 (PDF) (5 pp, 38K)
Section 14 (PDF) (13 pp, 86K)
Section 15 (PDF) (12 pp, 69K)
Section 16 (PDF) (17 pp, 97K)
Section 17 (PDF) (8 pp, 47K)

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

The Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Potable Water and Wastewater Master Plan for the Municipalities of Tijuana and Playas de Rosarito draft report are available in PDF format, below.

A number of these PDF documents are corrupted to some degree. The program office is aware of this and working to provide corrected versions. Meanwhile, some documents are not available. Please use the contact information below for further assistance.

Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) (260K)
Environmental Assessment (17K)
- Figure 1-1 (PDF) (2 pp, 1.06M)
- Figure 1-2 (PDF) (1 pg, 718K)
- Figure 1-3 (PDF) (1 pg, 321K)
- Figure 1-4 (PDF) (1 pg, 138K)
- Figure 2-1 (PDF) (1 pg, 520K)
- Figure 2-3 (PDF) (1 pg, 501K)
- Figure 2-4 (PDF) (1 pg, 959K)
- Figure 3-1 (PDF) (1 pg, 742K)
- Table 3-4 (PDF) Migratory Bird Species Potentially Occurring in the General Area of Master Plan Facilities in Mexico (3 pp, 97K)
- Appendix A (PDF): Effluent Discharge and Dispersion through the South Bay Ocean Outfall (50 pp, 603K)

Additional Resources

EPA's involvement in the Tijuana projects is part of a national commitment to improve environmental conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border. EPA participates in the development and implementation of water supply and wastewater infrastructure projects in coordination with the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADBank). BECC is responsible for certifying projects so that they comply with sound technical, environmental, financial, and public participation principles. NADBank administers the grants for projects that have been certified by BECC and approved by EPA. Additional information can be found at the following Web sites:

Contact Information

Elizabeth Borowiec (borowiec.elizabeth@epa.gov)