Mexico plans to release approximately 400 million gallons of sewage into the Tijuana River, which is likely to make its way into the United States. This issue has been persisting for decades, impacting beaches and neighboring communities, according to officials.

Crews in Tijuana, located just across the border from San Diego, are scheduled to conduct sewer system maintenance. San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond mentioned to Fox News Digital that San Diego continues to be affected by pollution from Mexico.

“Whenever maintenance is carried out on their side of the border, rather than diverting the sewage to a treatment facility, it ends up flowing into the river, gullies, and eventually crosses into the U.S., reaching the ocean,” he explained.

“They put it (sewage) into the big drainage ditch called the Tijuana River that flows downhill, and unfortunately downhill is the United States,” he added. 

The border fence between Imperial Beach (Right), near San Ysidro, California, and Playas de Tijuana near the Mexican city of Tijuana.  (Getty Images)

“I think it’s really time for federal action,” he said. “There needs to be some type of repercussions for those actions. Unfortunately, their lack of an adequate sewage system is our problem. It’s not their problem.”

To convince Mexican officials to fix the problem, the U.S. could restrict the number of people coming across the border and visas, as well as other forms of leverage if beaches have to be closed, Desmond said. 

The Tijuana River flows right behind a shopping mall on the U.S. side of the border, which poses health risks for local residents, he said. In addition to beach closures, Navy SEALs and recruits train near the toxic runoff and children and some elderly residents on the U.S. side of the border have gotten sick because of the stench from the runoff, said Desmond. 

“We’ve got to have a better system here as opposed to just being a sewage collection for Tijuana,” he said.