Countries Divided, Shared Pollution: Whose Mess is it? A Case Study on the issue of Transnational Border Sewage in the Tijuana River Valley Watershed

Abstract: This thesis critically examines the issue of shared border sewage between San Diego and Tijuana. In light of the recent sewage spill in February of 2017, dumping 143 million gallons of raw sewage into the Tijuana River, the phenomena of border sewage in the transnational environment of the Tijuana River Watershed has been a topic of interest in local and international contexts; raising questions of how this issue came about, what is causing it, and why it’s still happening. The aim of this thesis is to investigate and understand the historical context of the U.S. and Mexico in relation to the issue of transnational border sewage in the San Diego – Tijuana border region. This study enquires into the historical relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, with regard to Wallerstein’s world-systems theory and ecologically unequal exchange, and asserts that this issue is a contemporary example of environmental load displacement that has backfired. Using primary and secondary data in the form of EPA & IBWC environmental assessment and planning documents, previously conducted research, and dialogue between Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina and IBWC Commissioner Edward Drusina, this study draws connections between economic, social, and political aspects as to why the issue is not being dealt with, and resulting in an ecological stand-off between two divided nations sharing one sewage problem.