USMCA Tijuana River Pollution Crisis Campaign

The USMCA-TRV campaign led by WILDCOAST/COSTASALVAJE and the Sierra Club San Diego Chapter, launched on July 5th, 2026 with an op-ed in the San Diego Union Tribune and culminated with press conference in Tijuana on July 9th and a San Diego press conference on July 16th, successfully elevating a decades-long cross-border sewage crisis from a primarily local environmental issue into a binational policy discussion with direct implications for trade, public health, environmental protection, infrastructure investment, and regional economic competitiveness. This campaign is still ongoing, as we are working with the national Sierra Club lobbyists, who are meeting with trade representatives from both countries and members of Congress to rally support for enforceable environmental standards and a rapid-response mechanism. By linking the crisis to the upcoming review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA/T-MEC), the campaign created a clear and timely public narrative: the benefits of North American trade should be accompanied by enforceable environmental responsibility. 

Across television, digital media, newspapers, radio, and social platforms, the campaign generated 58 confirmed media placements in Mexico and the United States. Based on the audience estimates contained in the monitoring data, those placements represent approximately 65 million in cumulative potential audience reach.