A state-backed Arizona finance authority is considering a plan to fund a wastewater-to-drinking water facility in the Tijuana River Valley.
The goal? Pipe the purified water back to Mexico, and in exchange, ask Mexico to hand over some of its Colorado River water. It is one of several ambitious concepts backed by a $1billion Arizona fund aimed at identifying new water resources for the drought-stricken state.
But navigating the legal and environmental nuances of cross-border sewage is messy. The reality is that it’s incredibly complex to try to treat another country’s runoff on U.S. soil, our MacKenzie Elmer writes.
Still, with the Colorado River basin facing a potential “crash” that will significantly impact Arizona, the state’s water leaders are desperate for a solution.
Shuttered County Treatment Facility to (Finally) Reopen
The county is preparing to reopen a former Volunteers of America Southwest substance use treatment facility four years after it got the facility in a settlement deal.
In 2022, the county took over the 120-bed facility in National City after Voice of San Diego exposed financial misconduct at the nonprofit. Voice’s reporting led to the CEO’s ouster and the resignation of the entire board of directors — as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs pulling $2 million in funding.
County investigators determined that Volunteers of America Southwest owed the county millions of dollars — which ultimately led the charity to turn over the treatment facility.
Now the county expects to open the center with 73 residential treatment beds and 16 recuperative care beds for people early this fall. The county this spring signed a contract with New Creation Behavioral Healthcare Foundation, based in Ontario, Calif., to operate it.
County spokesperson Fernanda Lopez said the county has invested $29 million in state bond and grant funds, plus opioid settlement dollars into rehabilitating the facility.
Correction: Budget Reckoning
Today, the San Diego City Council will vote on a final budget to send back to Mayor Todd Gloria’s desk — for approval, veto or line-item vetos.
The budget process has been grueling. Gloria initially proposed a budget that would cut funding for libraries and recreation centers, as well as arts funding, while keeping money for firefighters and police steady. Councilmembers have pushed back hard and fought to restore some of that funding.
Expect more tension on those topics today — and potentially a push to end the city’s controversial Smart Streetlights program.
On that note: Yesterday’s Morning Report incorrectly attributed quotes from Council President Joe LaCava to Charles Modica, San Diego’s independent budget analyst.
LaCava wrote in a memo to the IBA that he didn’t agree with “draconian cuts” to the city’s middle managers and doesn’t support new revenues or fees on San Diegans.
You can read the corrected Morning Report here.
In Other News
- More than five years after San Diego residents voted for stronger and more independent police oversight, the city’s Commission on Police Practices still lacks many of the powers that voters were promised. (Union-Tribune)
- An air purifier company is suing San Diego County, arguing that a $26.8 million contract awarded to the company’s competitor should be voided. The company claims the contract process was faulty. The air purifiers are for South Bay residents exposed to toxic gases from the Tijuana River. (Union-Tribune)
- Lolz: The Switzerland National Football Team, which is training for the World Cup at the San Diego Jewish Academy, shared a map of its training facilities — with the entire area outside of the facility marked off limits because of rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes are the only things the Swiss fear more than than a scalding cup of cocoa and transparent banking.
- The California Teachers Association, the state’s largest and most powerful teachers union, has come out against the billionaire tax on the ballot in November. While members of the union aren’t opposed to the concept of such taxes, this tax would have dumped the new revenue into healthcare to make up for President Trump’s cuts to Medicare. That restriction was a dealbreaker, as the CTA would have wanted schools to get a cut of the loot. (Politico)
- Today, County Supervisor Joel Anderson will revive his push to make the county’s secret subcommittees more transparent after fellow supervisors’ recent failure to move the ball. If approved, Anderson’s latest proposal would set public access requirements and standards for ad-hoc subcommittees made up of supervisors.
- The San Diego City Council officially voted yesterday to repeal paid parking in Balboa Park and to reduce trash fees for single-family homes. The Council agreed to the changes last month, but had to officially sign off on them. (KPBS)
- Fire crews were working to extinguish a wildfire yesterday near Sorrento Valley Boulevard, dubbed the Sorrento Fire, leading to road closures and several neighborhoods receiving evacuation orders. (KPBS).
The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Lisa Halverstadt, Jakob McWhinney and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.
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