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 Chairman of the Committee, Rudy Maldonado, serves in the Board of Directors of Division 5 of the Imperial Irrigation District; Javier Alatorre works in the Imperial County Assessor’s Office and is former Mayor of the City of Calexico; Jose Carrillo is Research and Data Analysis Coordinator with the County of Imperial Office of Education; Luis Estrada is the Supervisor of the Waste Water Treatment Plant and interim Director of Development Services for the City of Calexico; Ray Falcon is Trustee for the Heffernan Memorial Hospital District; Aida Gates is the Imperial County Representative for Senator Denise Moreno-Ducheny; Jose Lopez is the Executive Director of Campesinos Unidos, Inc., a non-profit healthcare organization; Stephen Martin is the Patrol Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Border Patrol, El Centro Station; Eduardo Niebla is a Chemistry Instructor at the Imperial Valley College; and Jose M. Rodriguez Jr. serves as the Imperial County Assessor. All of them are Calexico residents.

The Calexico New River Committee has also worked closely with the City of Calexico and various organizations within California, such as 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.