Morning Report: It’s Easier to Renovate a 12th Century Cathedral Than Upgrade a Sewage Plant

It took France five years to rebuild the famous 12-century Notre Dame Cathedral after a fire burnt much of its spired roof and walls to a crisp.

Five years since the U.S. government pledged $300 million toward a Tijuana River sewage solution and nothing new’s really been built yet. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent a year deciding to spend that money on a bigger, better sewage treatment plant at the border. This makes us chuckle: officials estimated construction could begin as soon as mid-2022. 

Then it was 2022 and Congress found out that San Diego actually couldn’t spend that money due to some headache-inducing bureaucratic red tape. Congress had to pass a law that allowed the check to be cut to the International Boundary and Water Commission or IBWC, which runs the sewage plant. 

Then came 2023 and two huge sewer mains burst in Tijuana and the border plant took on a bunch of unexpected wastewater. Mid-year, the IBWC confessed its sewage plant was basically busted and that $300 million check from Congress back in 2020… yeah, they’d probably have to spend a lot of that on fixing stuff. They needed more money to build something shiny and new. Hurricane Hilary closed-out the year by flooding the plant with an unstoppable wave of rain, sewage and trash.

Exasperated San Diego Congressional delegates spent 2024 fighting for more money, eventually securing another $250 million by January 2025. 

“Today is good news. We have full funding now,” said Democrat Congressmember Juan Vargas, California’s 52nd District representative, during a Jan. 17 press conference at the Tijuana River estuary. 

Except, that’s not really true. Yes, now San Diego has about $650 million in total to spend on the plant. That total should fix the existing plant, which can treat 25 million gallons of sewage per day, and pay for the upgrades needed so the plant can treat 50 million gallons a day (with a 20 million gallon extra capacity for days when sewage is really surging). 

But, critically, the pot doesn’t cover what it will cost Congress to operate and maintain the plant – which wasn’t happening before and how we got in this pickle in the first place. 

Democrat Congressmember Mike Levin, District 49 representative, recently appointed to the House Appropriations Committee, chimed in at the press conference to say he’ll advocate for that operations and maintenance money. 

“Many years went by with Democratic and Republican administrations where maintenance contracts were not fully funded and not done as intended,” Levin said. 

Whether San Diego’s largely Democratic representatives can successfully corral more funds during a Republican-controlled Congress with cost-cutting Donald Trump back in the White House remains to be seen. 

Why it Matters: La Jolla’s Effort to Leave

La Jollans who want to leave the city of San Diego got one step closer last week. 

The Association for the City of La Jolla turned in 8,000 signatures to the San Diego Local Area Formation Commission, or LAFCO, officially starting the process that could lead to La Jolla seceding from the city of San Diego, writes our Scott Lewis. 

What happens next: The County Registrar of Voters will review and validate the signatures. They need 6,800 valid signatures to move forward with the divorce process. 

Lewis explains on KPBS what’s involved in that process and how it could all unfold. 

Watch the clip here. 

Background: Our Jakob McWhinney recently explained why La Jollans want a divorce. La Jolla is a city of San Diego neighborhood with city energy. Most people already think it’s a city, a delusion that even the United States Postal Service entertains. Still, this isn’t the first time the neighborhood has tried to separate. Read more here. 

One big thing: San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told us on the VOSD Podcast that he’s not interested in providing contracted services to La Jolla if there is a separation. (This is something proponents have explored.) 

“If there’s a separation, there’s a separation,” he said on the show. 

In Other News

• The U.S. Coast Guard discovered two vessels smuggling people off the coast of San Diego Wednesday and Thursday. Officials detained 19 people in total, three off Point Loma and another 16 near Mission Bay. (Union-Tribune)
• After increasing hourly meter rates, the city is considering other parking reforms including dynamic pricing and ending free metered parking on Sundays. (KPBS)
• Major League Baseball owners voted to make the older brother of now-deceased Padres chairman Peter Seidler the team’s control person. Seidler’s wife is continuing to fight for control of the team. (ESPN) 
• San Diego Unified School District is facing another big budget deficit, but district officials are projecting fewer layoffs than last year. They are also eyeing reorganizations and cuts to vacant positions. (Union-Tribune)
• New U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order earlier this week banning federal Department of Justice funding for sanctuary cities and counties. CBS 8 reports that San Diego County could be affected. 
• Podcast rec: San Diego Magazine interviewed two folks behind the OB People’s Food Co-Op, a San Diego institution for local, organic and vegetarian groceries for more than five decades. 

The Morning Report was written by MacKenzie Elmer and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.