History
The New River that runs from Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, through Calexico, California is considered to be one of the most polluted waterways in North America. The source of the pollution is the refuse and waste from manufacturing plants operating in Mexico; agricultural chemical runoff from the area’s farm industry; and human waste form the ever-expanding population in Mexicali. The river contains a nightmare stew of about 100 biological contaminants, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and pesticides including: DDT, PCB, selenium, uranium, arsenic and mercury. The river also holds the toxins that cause tuberculosis, encephalitis, polio, cholera, hepatitis and typhoid, all flowing untreated through our city; levels for many of these contaminants are in violation of U.S.EPA and Cal/EPA standards. The river’s environment is in a critical condition, its noxious odor keeps people from getting too close and its toxic foam blows into the parking lot of one of our supermarkets and our downtown area. Mexicali has a population of about 1.3 million, while Calexico has about 34,000 people. On the Mexican side of the border, the river has been encased in cement tubing, while it runs open through the center of Calexico, carrying the waste of the city of Mexicali and the entire industrial/agricultural industries of the area.
Frustrated by the lack of progress to date, and recognizing that the ultimate solution to cleaning up the New River pollution would involve complex international negotiations that could take further decades to accomplish, concerned citizens and officials in the Calexico area established the Calexico New River Committee in 2001.
The committee, which is dedicated to eliminating the negative impact of the New River in Calexico and the rest of the Imperial County, has successfully consolidated community and political support behind the New River Public Health Protection Project.
The CNRC is uniquely qualified to carry out the job proposed because our members are strongly committed to the project, have proven themselves responsible over the years and represent various segments of the population. The CNRC has one paid staff member, with 11 volunteer board members with strong commitment, diversity, strong community relations, proven leadership and strong follow through capabilities. The CNRC members have proven to be responsible over the years and represent various segments of the population in areas like education, health organizations, non-profit organization management and public administration at city and county level. 90 percent of the board of directors is of Latino heritage and 9 of the 11 directors are Imperial Valley residents. Miguel Figueroa, Executive Director, is also a native of the community, bilingual, has background in business and financial management from an undergraduate degree.
The Calexico New River Committee has also worked closely with the City of Calexico and various organizations within California, such as The Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, Rabobank’s Community Development branch, The California Wellness Foundation and The California Endowment to obtain preliminary funding support for the Project. This support has funded the completion of an initial permitting evaluation and preliminary design documents for community advocacy and outreach for the Project.
