San Diego County's new ‘Pollution Crisis Chief' to tackle Tijuana River sewage problem

San Diego County officials introduced Bridget Premont Monday as their new pollution crisis chief, tasked with addressing the ongoing Tijuana River Valley sewage situation.

Premont was the first appointee to fill the newly formed position, which will be based at the County Counsel's Office.

"Premont spent significant parts of her career directly advocating for change in the Tijuana River Valley," the county said in a statement. "From 2017 to 2021, she was the political and economic chief at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, where she also served as the acting consul general during that period. Her efforts there helped secure more than $340 million in U.S. and Mexican federal funding to fight cross border water pollution."

In the new position, Premont will be charged with the following duties:

• Coordinating with federal, state and local agencies to prioritize planning for local and cross-border infrastructure upgrades

• Advocating to secure federal and state funding through grants or appropriations for sewage crisis mitigation

• Coordinating real-time emergency response when sewage discharges spike

• Chairing a Sewage Crisis Interdepartmental Task Force

• Establishing and maintaining a public funding dashboard to assure transparency in how resources are leveraged
• Coordinating media briefings, community meetings and bilingual information campaigns

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently commissioned an economic impact study that revealed the sewage crisis is causing annual losses up to $503.5 million to the regional community.

"If it is not fixed, the financial toll will reach $7.9 billion over the next two decades," the statement said.

Premont will be joined at Monday's news conference by Terra Lawson- Remer, chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Board Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre, and County Counsel Damon Brown.