BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: June 16, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
SCR 90 (Hueso) - As Amended: May 12, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 35-0
SUBJECT : Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team
SUMMARY : Declares the Legislature's commitment to work with the
Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team (Recovery Team) to protect
and preserve the Tijuana River Valley's (Valley) diverse and
unique ecological, recreational, and cultural resources.
EXISTING LAW : Creates the San Diego Regional Water Quality
Control Board (SDRWQCB), which comprises all basins draining
into the Pacific Ocean between the southern boundary of the
Santa Ana region and the California-Mexico boundary.
THIS BILL :
1)Makes the following findings:
a) 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 (Estuary),
partly located in the State of California and partly in
Mexico.
b) Parts of the Estuary are protected by the Department of
Parks and Recreation as the Border Field State Park.
c) The 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 on Wetlands.
d) The 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
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and railroads, contributing to its economic resiliency and
value.
e) The City of San Diego declared the existence of a state
of emergency related to the potential for severe flooding
in the Valley, posing a possibility of peril to persons or
property.
f) 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 Valley's environmental health and
viability.
g) 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.
h) The only way to effectively restore and protect
environmental and human health issues in the Valley is to
address transboundary flows of trash and sediment at the
source, requiring binational cooperation.
i) The 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
(Recovery Strategy).
j) The Recovery Strategy emphasizes binational
collaboration on wastewater improvements, trash control,
sediment and flood control, and ecosystem restoration.
2)Declares the Legislature's commitment to work with the
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.
3)States the intent of the Legislature to encourage
collaboration with the Recovery Team to do both of the
following:
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a) To protect and enhance our natural resources through
improved management of sediment and trash, flood control,
ecosystem management, and recreation and education; and,
b) To promote bilateral ties that will be beneficial to the
enhancement of one of California's most resilient
ecosystems.
4)Requires the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the
resolution to the Secretary for United States Environmental
Protection Agency and to the author for appropriate
distribution.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)Background. The Tijuana River Watershed is an approximately
1,700-square mile area that straddles the U.S./Mexico
international border. The watershed is a diverse and complex
drainage system ranging from 6,000-foot pine forest-covered
mountains to the tidal saltwater estuary at the mouth of the
Tijuana River. Nearly three-quarters of the watershed is
located in Mexico, but the watershed drains to the Pacific
Ocean through the 8-square mile valley located adjacent to the
border. The Valley is home to tidally flushed wetland,
riparian, and upland habitats supporting a broad range of
organisms, including threatened and endangered species. In
addition, a number of federally listed historical and
archaeological sites exist in the Valley, some dating back
8,000 years.
Unfortunately, the Valley is increasingly threatened by
stormwater flows that contain trash and high concentrations of
other urban, agricultural, and industrial pollutants in the
Tijuana River and its tributaries. Additionally, the soils in
the watershed are highly susceptible to erosion, especially
when disturbed. Due to urbanization, even moderate storms can
bring significant flows of sediment downstream. As stormwater
flows to the ocean, the intermixed sediment, trash and other
debris are deposited in channels, among vegetation in the
Valley floodplain, and in the estuary. These conditions
create an environment where mosquitoes and other vectors can
impact human health and the environment. Also, storm flows
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transport exotic invasive plant species that threaten native
plant communities and negatively affect habitat for native
wildlife. The interaction of sediment and trash deposits
severely threaten habitat, water quality and other resources
in the region.
The "mission" of the Recovery Team (see membership below) is
to bring together the governmental, administrative,
regulatory, and funding agencies in tandem with advice from
the scientific community, the environmental community, and
affected stakeholders to protect the Valley from future
accumulations of trash and sediment, identify, remove, recycle
or dispose of existing trash and sediment, and restore the
Tijuana River floodplain to a balanced wetland ecosystem.
The Recovery Team's "vision" is a Valley free of historical
trash and sediment,
protected from future deposits of trash and sediment, restored
to a sustained physical, chemical and biological integrity,
and performing its hydrologic functions, while respecting the
interests of current and future landowners and users.
The Recovery Team has developed the Recovery Strategy, which
has two purposes. First, it is intended to be a concise
summary of the first phase of actions to cleanup the Valley
and restore its beneficial uses. Second, it is intended to
outline the steps in a way that will allow stakeholders,
policy makers, and potential funding sources have a clear
understanding of both the problems and the solutions that will
allow the Recovery Team to achieve its vision and mission.
Ultimately, members of the Recovery Team will implement the
strategy through enhanced relationships and partnerships.
The Recovery Strategy acknowledges that resolution to the
sediment and trash problems will require partnerships between
the U.S. and Mexico to provide watershed-based solutions. As
such, one if its main goals is to develop this partnership
between the two countries.
2)The Recovery Team . The Recovery Team consists of the
following members and organizations: Audubon Society;
California Coastal Commission; California Coastal
Conservancy; California Department of Conservation,
Office of Mining and Reclamation; California Department
of Fish and Wildlife; California Department of Resources
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Recovery and Recycling; California Environmental
Protection Agency; California State Parks; California
State Water Resources Control Board; City of Imperial
Beach; City of San Diego; County of San Diego;
International Boundary and Water Commission; National
Marine Fisheries Service; National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration; OpenOceans Global; San Diego
Coastkeeper; San Diego County Water Authority; San Diego
Regional Water Quality Control Board; San Diego State
University; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Southern
California Coastal Water Research Project; Southwest
Wetlands Interpretive Association; Surfrider; Tijuana
River National Estuarine Research Reserve; Tijuana River
Valley Equestrian Association; U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. Customs and
Border Patrol; U.S. Department of Agriculture; U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; and U.S. Navy.
The co-chair of the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team is
the executive director of the SDRWQCB. According to the
executive director, cleaning up sediment and trash in the
Valley is a high priority for SDRWQCB.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Alter Terra
City of San Diego
Greg Cox, Supervisor, San Diego County Board of Supervisors,
First District
International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. Section
Jim Janney, Mayor of Imperial Beach
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
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