SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday the release of $46 million in voter-approved bond funding to combat severe water pollution along the California-Mexico border, using the moment to sharply criticize the Trump administration for failing to fix a broken federal treatment facility at the heart of the crisis.
The grant funding, pulled from Proposition 4–a climate and water bond passed by state voters in 2024–adds to $38 million California has already spent trying to mitigate the environmental and public health emergency in San Diego and Imperial counties.
In a statement, Newsom framed the state’s funding injection as a temporary lifeline while Washington drags its feet on a permanent solution for the Tijuana River.
“People in San Diego County shouldn’t have to worry about getting sick, losing access to their beaches, and living with polluted air,” Newsom said. “California has stepped up repeatedly, but we can’t solve a decades-long federal failure on our own. The Trump administration must do its part, honor its commitments, and finally deliver the lasting solutions this community deserves.”
The cross-border pollution has long plagued Southern California, where aging, overwhelmed infrastructure in Mexico routinely spills raw sewage, industrial waste, and tons of trash into rivers flowing north across the U.S. border.
The epicenter of the crisis sits at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Ysidro. The facility is managed federally by the International Boundary and Water Commission, making it Washington’s legal responsibility to maintain. Despite a pledge in July 2025 from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to deliver a “100% solution,” state officials say a permanent fix has yet to materialize.
The friction between Sacramento and the White House has been building for months. In May, Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., to personally lobby Zeldin and the state department for interagency cooperation and immediate infrastructure repairs.
The newly available $46 million will be distributed through a competitive grant process managed by the State Water Resources Control Board, which opened the application window Thursday morning. The state plans to select at least one project targeting the Tijuana River and another targeting the New River, a severely degraded waterway that flows north into the Imperial County city of Calexico and empties into the Salton Sea.
State water officials said the funds will target projects that rapidly reduce bacteria and trash loads, manage toxic sediment, and protect public health. Under the guidelines, single implementation projects can receive up to $10 million, though that cap can be raised to $20 million with state approval. Planning and research projects are capped at $750,000.
Local advocates and residents in beach communities like Imperial Beach have long complained of toxic air quality and chronic beach closures caused by the upstream sludge. While California’s previous $38 million investment funded stopgap measures–including trash booms, sediment basins, and 10,000 household air purifiers distributed by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District–officials emphasize that state money cannot legally be used to rebuild a federal plant.
The State Water Board will accept grant applications online through August 31 and plans to host an informational webinar to assist local municipalities and non-profits with the competitive bidding process.