New River (California)

Encyclopedia : N : NE : NEW : New River (California)

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The New River is a river that runs from Mexicali, Baja California, in Mexico into the United States through Calexico, California. It is considered to be the most polluted waterway in North America. It was formed in 1905-1907 when the Colorado River washed out diversionary works and flowed into the region’s basin, also forming the Salton Sea and the Alamo River. Immediately after its creation, the channel was used as a drainage system for the growing settlements. The New River flows north 15 miles (25 km) through Baja California and another 66 miles (100 km) through California onto the Salton Sea. Flow at the border is approximately 200 cubic feet per second (6 m³/s). The New River has been recognized as a significant pollution problem since the late 1940s, primarily because of its extremely high concentrations of fecal Coliform bacteria and the stench at its entry to the U.S. With population growth and an inadequate sewer infrastructure, Mexicali has contributed an increasing amount of raw sewage into the New River, and in the mid 1980s the extent of the problem was finally officially recognized. Since the passing of NAFTA in the 1990s, industrial manufacturing has also been an increasingly significant contributor to pollution. Mexico's relatively lax environmental regulations on manufacturing plants or maquiladoras has allowed these plants to use the New River as a waste drainage system over the years. Today Mexicali is an industrial border city with over one hundred maquiladoras. The problem is expected to worsen, as Mexicali’s population of about 1.3 million continues to expand.

See Flash Videos: New River - Most Polluted River in North America http://www.calexiconewriver.com/media.php

Environmental Justice, Human Health Issues

The New River’s flow is composed of waste from agricultural and chemical runoff from the area’s farm industry (69.6%), human waste from the ever-expanding population in Mexicali (29%), and manufacturing plants operating in Mexico (1.4%).

By the time the New River crosses the U.S./Mexico border near Calexico, California, the channel contains a stew of about 100 contaminants, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals (including selenium, uranium, arsenic and mercury), and pesticides (including DDT) and PCBs. The waterway also holds the toxins that cause tuberculosis, encephalitis, polio, cholera, hepatitis and typhoid; levels for many of these contaminants are in violation of U.S. EPA and Cal/EPA standards by several hundred-fold.

Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is paying 55 percent of a $50 million addition to Mexicali's sewage treatment facility, it has yet to tackle the pollution which has already been carried across the border in the Imperial Valley and deposited in the Salton Sea. Fecal coliform is at levels of 100,000 to 5 million colonies per milliliter at the border checkpoint, far above the U.S.-Mexico treaty limit of 240 colonies. The New River is so heavily polluted that technicians usually wear two sets of gloves, aprons and other protective clothing when testing the water.

The stench of the New River near the boundary, particularly at night and during the summer, is oftentimes overpowering. Discarded tires, trash, dead animals and other wastes line the channel, foam blows into the streets of one of Calexico’s residential areas and toward its downtown area, mosquitoes and other pests thrive during the summer season, all of these factors only serve to elevate contagion risk. Scores of illegal immigrants are also exposed as they use the river to enter the U.S.; immigrants often evade Border Patrol because agents will not enter the water to detain them. Those who succeed in crossing will rarely receive adequate medical attention or screening; and they will often find jobs in the agricultural or food service industries, carrying New River diseases to their various destinations in California and across the U.S. Mexico and the United States have begun to work cooperatively to address New River pollution from Mexico; however much remains to be addressed.

See also

• United States-Mexico border

External links

• [State Water resources Control Board]
• [Calexico New River Committee]

 

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