Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 90

Introduced by Senator Hueso

February 21, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 90—Relative to the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 90, as introduced, Hueso. Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team.

This measure would declare the Legislature’s intent to work with the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team to take various actions to protect and preserve the Tijuana River Valley, to encourage collaboration with the team to protect and enhance our natural resources through improved management of sediment and trash, flood control, ecosystem management, and recreation and education, and to promote bilateral ties with Mexico that will be beneficial to the enhancement of one of California’s most resilient ecosystems.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Originating in Mexico, the Tijuana River crosses
the international boundary into the United States near San Ysidro,
California, then flows westerly to discharge into the Pacific Ocean
at about 1.5 miles north of the Mexican border where it forms the
Tijuana River Estuary, partly located in the State of California and
partly in Mexico; and

WHEREAS, Parts of the Tijuana River Estuary are protected
by the Department of Parks and Recreation as the Border Field
State Park; and

WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Estuary is also protected by the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and is designated as a
“Wetland of International Importance” through the United Nations
Ramsar Convention Wetlands; and

WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Estuary is one of only two
coastal estuaries in southern California large enough, and
unimpeded by development, to be resilient to climate change. It
is also the only coastal lagoon in southern California that is
primarily under public ownership and not bisected by roads and
railroads, contributing to its economic resiliency and value; and

WHEREAS, The City of San Diego declared the existence of
a state of emergency related to the potential for severe flooding in
the Tijuana River Valley, posing a possibility of peril to persons
or property; and

WHEREAS, Decades of scientific research prove that sediment,
trash, and high concentrations of other urban, agricultural, and
industrial pollutants carried in stormwater runoff flowing into
California from Mexico currently threaten the Tijuana River
Valley’s environmental health and viability; and

WHEREAS, In addition to the environmental impact caused by
the transport and deposition of trash and sediment, the watershed
is in danger of losing valuable ecological, recreational, and
economic resources; and

WHEREAS, The only way to effectively restore and protect
environmental and human health issues in the Tijuana River Valley
is to address transboundary flows of trash and sediment at the
source, requiring binational cooperation; and

WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team is a
collaboration of more than 30 federal, state, and local agencies
and other interested parties from both sides of the border focused
on addressing sediment, trash, and associated environmental issues
through the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Strategy; and

WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Valley Recovery Strategy
emphasizes binational collaboration on wastewater improvements,
trash control, sediment and flood control, and ecosystem
restoration; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature on behalf of the people
of the State of California, declare their commitment to work with
the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team to protect the valley’s
diverse and unique ecological, recreational, cultural, and
educational opportunities and preserve this natural jewel located
within a binational metropolitan area; and be it further

Resolved, That it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
collaboration with the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team to do
both of the following:

(a) To protect and enhance our natural resources through
improved management of sediment and trash, flood control,
ecosystem management, and recreation and education.

(b) To promote bilateral ties that will be beneficial to the
enhancement of one of California’s most resilient ecosystems; and
be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the Secretary for Environmental Protection and
to the author for appropriate distribution.