Trump Administration Replaces the Commissioner Leading Sewage Crisis Repairs

President Donald Trump has appointed a new commissioner for the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), replacing Maria-Elena Giner, who was appointed in 2021 by former President Joe Biden.

William “Chad” McIntosh will take over the role. Before the appointment, he was serving as the acting deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In a letter of resignation dated April 21, Giner thanked Trump for allowing her to remain in her role for four months as a new appointment was made. She also congratulated McIntosh.

The binational IBWC manages border infrastructure such as dams, levees, ports of entry, and wastewater treatment plants. Notably, it oversees the crumbling infrastructure that contributes to the ongoing Tijuana sewage crisis.

The U.S. section of the IBWC is currently rehabilitating and expanding its South Bay International Treatment Plant (SBIWTP), while Mexico carries out its own repairs. Once complete, the projects are expected to reduce the amount of sewage dumped into the ocean by up to 90 percent.

The SBIWTP expansion may take up to five years. The plant is in need of large-scale rehabilitation, and the project will not only repair the plant’s myriad issues, but also, it will double its treatment capacity from 25 million gallons per day (MGD) to a 50 MGD average flow, with peak flow capacity at 75 MGD.

“As sad as I feel in leaving this position,” Giner wrote in her letter of resignation addressed to Trump, “I am proud of our accomplishments at the IBWC during our almost four years together. There was much ground to cover given the insufficient funding provided to our agency for decades.”

Between 2010 and 2020, the IBWC’s average construction budget was $32 million per year, Giner said. The IBWC does not only oversee the infrastructure responsible for treating sewage from Mexico: It also manages levees, damns, treatment plants, ports of entry, and more.

The SBIWTP plant expansion is a $600 million project that was funded by both Trump and Biden.

During her tenure, Giner was often applauded for her transparency and accountability.

Over the years, citizens and local leaders have called the ongoing sewage crisis an outrage, its progress toward remediation disappointing. There have been protests, trips to the capitol, advocacy and anger.

But little of that has been directed at Giner. Last summer, as Giner reported to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board that the IBWC was once again going to miss its deadline to stop violating the Clean Water, board members said they were outraged – as they said thank you to Giner specifically for her work to fix the failing infrastructure.

She has also been credited with increasing transparency, both within the USIBWC and in Mexico, as projects trudge forward.

In a post on LinkedIn, Giner called her role as commissioner, “the hardest job I have ever had, but the most rewarding.”

Accomplishments Giner highlighted in her resignation letter include: securing commitments from Mexico on transboundary pollution from Tijuana; repairs at the Amistad Dam; developing the IBWC’s long-term capital plan for better budgeting; replacing nearly half of the agency’s heavy equipment; and contracting the project to rehabilitate and expand the SBIWTP.

Giner concluded her letter of resignation by wishing McIntosh luck and praising the staff at the IBWC.

“Their motivation pushed me every day to strive to be an exceptional public servant, no matter the tough and incontrollable challenges associated with another sovereign country, in addition to our own infrastructure issues,” Giner wrote. “I have also encouraged staff to continue the mission and support your vision through Commissioner Chad McIntosh.”