Calexico New River could be enclosed in piping

elchrist

Calexico group advances plan for waste-choked waterway
Source: San Diego Union Tribune

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What Calexico does have is the backing of state Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego. Her New River legislation recently passed in the Senate, and it has no known opposition in the Assembly. If the bill becomes law, it would authorize piping for the waterway, an important procedural hurdle in a state that generally prohibits complete enclosure of rivers.

"It is unusual to bury your river and do something on top of it, but ... it could be a real positive project," Ducheny said.

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The San Diego Union Tribune has put together a very lengthy, informative and promising article on the Calexico New River which states some progress being made throughout, especially with the help of the Calexico New River Committee.

Along with the potential piping of the New River, there is also mention of a new water treatment plant to be completed and put into operation by 2006 in Mexicali named Mexicali II, but the article also states some of the (intentional and/or unintentional) circumventing done in Mexicali to bypass the water treatment such as:

During a recent tour through Mexicali, Orozco showed why: An 18-inch sewage pipe from a nearby neighborhood poked through the dirt with a straight shot to the New River. Orozco said the city is crisscrossed by such pipes, which bypass treatment plants, and that many factories, including a slaughterhouse, are not connected to the system.

As mentioned, there is a lot more covered including the history and potential health risk to Calexico residents, in which the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching this month an "environmental justice" project to reduce these risks.

I thought it was interesting how illegal immigrants camouflage themselves in white cloths to blend into the thick white foam patches in the New River. And also the corrosion to neighboring home air conditioning units reported by technicians that are not present on the other side of Calexico.

Take some time to read the article and discuss your thoughts/opinions here.

CX3 4life · Posted: 09 Jun 2005 11:30 AM Post subject:

It is a good news article, I guess most citizens of Calexico are skeptical of any new promises since most of the old ones never materialized. If the river is piped, Calecia will never be the same without the new river fog in the morning...

Encanto · Posted: 09 Jun 2005 12:08 PM Post subject:

It is what the CNRC proposed all along, pipe the New River from the international line to Highway 98, then after that open it up again and install wetlands on the side of the river to clean it up through Brawley and eventually help out the Salton Sea and its wildlife if any or bring back some (fish and birds).

This is binational environmental issue affecting the city of calexico. So there needs to be federal government involvement in this. EPA and other agencies are needed to make this a reality. Calexico cannot do this on their own.

As far as the environmental hazards it has exposed west side (grant st la garra residents) asthma numbers can be a good indication of this problem but no studies have been done. Mosquito bites tambien. Then immigrants who use this waterway as a way to enter the US illegaly can then transfer diseases to their destined cities like L.A. and Vegas who then end up working at fast food places and other industries where none of this is reported. I interviewed border patrol agent involed in CNRC and he mentioned the procedures for border patrol agents who come into contact with New River water or appreheded immigrants and it involves all kinds of shots for the many diseases found in there.

The New River problem has lagged on for too long, we wonder how much longer it will continue. And for the Mexicali piping, if the area gets a strong storm with large amounts of water, lets not be surprised if it all falls through taking into consideration the engineering work done there. Then the industrial runoff and sewage wage, the power plant runoff in Mexicali is what creates that foam. The New River Water glows at night.

Just my two cents on the Rio Conca in Calecia. (Concagada)