Texas Border Business
April 2025—Maria-Elena Giner, the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), has officially resigned following pressure from the Trump administration.
Appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, Giner had become a key figure in managing binational water issues affecting South Texas and northern Mexico.
During her tenure, Giner helped negotiate five amendments to the 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty, expanded flood control initiatives, and secured increased funding for water infrastructure modernization along the Rio Grande. She was also credited with bringing greater transparency and urgency to the U.S.-Mexico water debt disputes that have plagued Texas farmers for years.
“Thank you to everyone for your support during my journey as Commissioner of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission. It has been the honor of my life time. The hardest job I have ever had but the most rewarding,”
Maria-Elena Giner via LinkedIN
Yet her departure comes during escalating controversy over a separate crisis — sewage-contaminated water flowing from the Tijuana River into southern California, which has led to environmental, public health, and diplomatic concerns.
In recent months, untreated sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana have poured into the Pacific Ocean, closing beaches in San Diego County for weeks. The crisis has been compounded by the failure of cross-border wastewater infrastructure and delays in funding allocations for repairs and upgrades to the aging International Wastewater Treatment Plant (IWTP) in San Ysidro, California.
Local officials and residents in California’s Imperial Beach, Coronado, and San Diego communities have called the situation a “public health emergency.” Despite prior federal commitments — including over $300 million authorized under the USMCA’s environmental provisions — progress has been delayed in legal, bureaucratic, and funding disputes. The Trump administration has not issued a formal explanation for forcing Giner’s resignation,
With her resignation, leadership at the IBWC remains uncertain at a critical moment. The next commissioner will face a growing list of challenges, including a worsening drought in the Rio Grande basin, rising tensions over agricultural water use, and the ongoing sewage crisis in California.
See the YouTube videos below by NBC:
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin visited San Diego to address the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
Watch the videos below for more information:
According to a report, more than 100 billion gallons of untreated sewage and industrial waste have spilled into the Pacific Ocean from the Tijuana River over the past five years. NBC News’ Steven Romo reports that the toxic waste may pose a health risk to kids, the elderly, and pregnant people in the San Diego area.
See Maria-Elena Giner’s Resignation letter below:
