US, Mexico sign new agreement on Tijuana River sewage crisis, EPA says

The United States and Mexico signed a new agreement aimed at addressing the ongoing Tijuana River sewage crisis, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday in a statement.

The decades-long issue of Mexican sewage flowing into the Tijuana River and across the U.S. border before emptying into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego has been a point of contention between the U.S. and Mexico.

The new agreement saw the U.S. and Mexican Sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission agree to infrastructure projects, research, enhanced monitoring, "and planning for operation and maintenance of critical sites and systems that will account for future population growth in Tijuana," the EPA said.

Earlier this year, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Mexican Environment Minister Alicia Barcena signed a memorandum of understanding in which Mexico agreed to expedite the expenditure of $93 million worth of improvements to the Tijuana sewage system and commit to several projects to account for future population growth and maintenance.