Smuggler's Gulch Explained

Smuggler's Gulch
Other Name:Cañón del Matadero
Photo Alt:A valley, with schrub vegetation, a border barrier in the distance
Map:United States
Map Size:200
Location:Tijuana River Watershed
Elevation M:11
Elevation Ft:36
Towns:Tijuana River Valley, San Diego
Traversed:Mexico–United States barrier

The Smuggler's Gulch is part of a steep walled canyon about 2miles inland of the Pacific Ocean. The canyon crosses the Mexico–United States border, between Tijuana, Baja California, and San Diego, California, and Smuggler's Gulch is the part of the canyon on the US side of the border. It may also be called Spanish; Castilian: Cañón del Matadero[1] or Spanish; Castilian: Valle Montezuma in Spanish, but these names apply more generally to the whole canyon. Smuggling activities within Smuggler's Gulch have occurred since the 19th century, giving this part of the canyon its name.

The gulch is vegetated with coastal sage scrub and is home to threatened and special concern bird species. It has a seasonal stream, and normal flow is diverted for treatment. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, agriculture occurred in the gulch, but was largely abandoned by the late 20th century. In the late 20th century, the gulch was used by illegal immigrants when crossing from Mexico into the United States, being described as a "prime route" during that period. Beginning in the 1980s, sewage flowing through the gulch entered into the Tijuana River, contributing to water contamination; since then mitigation efforts have been undertaken, but are defeated by rainfall. Since 2009, it has been partially filled and traversed by the Mexico–United States barrier.

Flora and fauna

The flora of the gulch consists of coastal sage scrub. In the early 20th century, golden-spined cereus (Bergerocactus emoryi), listed by the California Native Plant Society as a rare plant, existed within the gulch.[2] In 2015, a small number of singlewhorl burrobrush (Ambrosia monogyra), also listed as a rare plant by the California Native Plant Society, were documented near the mouth of the gulch.[3]

Near and in the gulch, a few threatened and special concern species have been observed. These include the coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica), Cooper’s Hawk (Accipter cooperii), and the northern harrier (Circus hudsonius). Over 350 avian species have been observed near and within the gulch.[4]

Geography

The gulch is the lower part of a steep walled canyon about 2miles inland and east of the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California.[5] The gulch is about 0.5miles wide.[6] It is about 3miles west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry;[7] the primary border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the busiest border crossing in the world.[8]

In the mid-19th century, Smuggler's Gulch had marshland and ponds of water. A stream which originates from the gulch had drained into the Tijuana River; the watershed of the gulch, a sub-watershed of the larger Tijuana River watershed, is about 6.7sqmi and is mostly in Mexico.[9] The stream only flows seasonally during the winter months. When the base flow is absent, sewage from Mexico would follow the path of the creek were it not diverted for treatment. An alluvial fan has formed at the northern mouth of the gulch due to colluvium deposits. A natural spring had existed within the gulch. In the early 1990s, the stream was funneled into a 20adj=midNaNadj=mid agricultural channel which flows into the Tijuana River.[10] This channel is connected to the gulch via an earthen channel which ends at Monument Road.[11]

History

Dating back thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, the Kumeyaay lived in the area in and around the gulch.[12] [13] Melijo, a Kumeyaay village, existed north of the gulch.[14] [15] In 1769, Junípero Serra described the village as a "gentile settlement, thickly populated". Some of its inhabitants took part in the 1775 attack on Mission San Diego de Alcalá.[16] Some time after the attack during the 18th Century, the people of the village were displaced.[17]

During the Mexican period, the gulch was part of Rancho Melijo. It was owned by Santiago Argüello, who used it to raise cattle and horses. Following the Mexican–American War, monuments were placed along the Mexico–United States border; monument 256 was placed near the gulch.[18] [19] The canyon began to be referred to as Smuggler's Gulch as far back as the 1880s due to smuggling of livestock from Mexico into the United States.[20] Other items smuggled through the gulch were cigars and lace undergarments. In 1889, a schoolhouse was built near the mouth of the gulch and continued to operate until 1941; prior to its closing, it had been the southwest most school in the United States.[21], the former schoolhouse still exists as a private residence and had moved from its original location onto private property.

In the early 20th Century, prior to the American entry into World War II, about a dozen families settled within the gulch; they included the Satterlee, Welcome, Smallcomb, Brehlmeier, and Coones families, with most involved in agriculture. After World War II, mining occurred within the gulch. By the 1970s, significant croplands which had existed with the Tijuana River Valley began to be abandoned, with the exception of those near the mouths of the gulch and nearby Goat Canyon.[22] Beginning in the 1970s, contaminated water began to flow through the gulch due to uncontrolled development that occurred as Tijuana began to grow into the gulch south of the border;[23] farming within Smuggler's Gulch began to become unfeasible due to sewage contamination of the farmland.[24] In the 1980s, tens of thousands of people illegally immigrating into the United States passed through the gulch and were subject to rape and robbery by criminals who targeted them; over the next decade, the gulch continued to be a common route for smuggling of illegal immigrants into the United States.[25] National Geographic referred to the gulch as the "prime route" for illegal entry into the United States during the 1990s.[26] At the height of its utilization for illegal entry into the United States, more than 10% of the 1.2 million apprehended illegal aliens were captured within the gulch.[27] In May 1992, Pat Buchanan visited Smuggler's Gulch as part of his presidential campaign and delivered a news conference where he spoke out against illegal immigration and in favor of increased border security. In addition to news reporters and Buchanan supporters, the event was also witnessed by a number of migrants and neo-Nazis led by Tom Metzger.[28] [29]

Due to the sewage flowing through Smuggler's Gulch, Border Field State Park was quarantined. Beginning in the latter half of the 1980s, work began to collect sewage flows within the gulch but was insufficient to capture all of it, with over 100000USgal continuing into the estuary every day in 1987. In the 1990s, the City of San Diego purchased land at the mouth of the gulch and utilized it as a toxic waste dump, importing contaminated soils from Sorrento Valley. By the mid-1990s, millions of gallons of sewage were flowing through the gulch, leading to additional attempts to mitigate the issue by construction of additional pumps and pipes to the then-newly constructed International Boundary Wastewater Treatment Plant; however, when it rains these pumps are insufficient to collect the polluted waters from Tijuana, which then flow into the Tijuana River and thence into the Pacific Ocean.[30] As a result, the ocean adjacent to Imperial Beach is frequently closed to swimming because of bacterial contamination in the water.[31]

Barrier construction

Construction of a border fence by the United States Border Patrol, made of corrugated landing strips, in the area of Smuggler's Gulch began in 1990, and was completed in 1993;[32] this fence was not opposed by environmentalist, as it reduced trampling of habitat and egg consumption by illegal aliens.[33] In 1996, the United States Congress approved construction of double fencing from the Pacific Ocean to 14miles inland along the Mexico–United States Border.[34] Due to this apprehension of illegal immigrants were significantly reduced, and shifted where illegal entry occurred to places without double fencing, including Smuggler's Gulch.[35] In 2002, a Border Patrol agent died when her vehicle toppled down the gulch's steep slopes; this was one of four deaths that were attributed to narrow switchback roads which existed on the canyon walls.[36] In February 2004, the California Coastal Commission halted construction of the Mexico–United States barrier, asking the United States federal government to make additional environmental concessions in regards to border barrier construction;[37] this action was criticized in The American Spectator.[38] Beginning in 2005, environmental laws were waived, as authorized by the Real ID Act, in order for the Mexico–United States barrier to be built in the gulch and in nearby Goat Canyon. These proposed actions were criticized by various people and organizations, including the Sierra Club.[39] [40] In 2005, 127,000 illegal aliens were apprehended in the area of Smuggler's Gulch, overcoming the existing fencing.[41] In August 2008, barrier construction in the gulch began; work was contracted to Kiewit Corporation.[42]

In July 2009, work was completed on the project in the gulch;[43] it cost $58 million and utilized 72,000 dump truck loads to fill the 230adj=midNaNadj=mid gulch.[44] The amount of dirt moved was about 2100000cuft; the dirt came from nearby mesas within Border Field State Park. The 3.5adj=midNaNadj=mid road, lighting, and triple barrier, topped the fill within Smuggler's Gulch.[45] The filling of the gulch was one of the most expensive sections of the Mexico–United States barrier.[46]

In 2010, irrigation was installed on the fill to encourage growth of vegetation to reduce erosion, which would assist in stabilizing the earthen fill.[47] Beginning in October 2011, native vegetation began to be installed by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in order to rehabilitate areas affected by the installation of the border barrier across the gulch; this has stabilized the fill, which has seen reduction of height change from 0.5cm (00.2inches) per year, to 0.1cm (00inches) per year, all but eliminating sedimentation.[48] After the barrier was completed in the gulch the area has been described as "nearly impenetrable";[49] however, even with these alterations to the terrain, it has not stopped all smuggling.[50] As recently as June 2019, a small number of people have continued to evade CBP agents within the gulch.[51] Due to the decrease in people crossing the border in the gulch, sensitive areas in the Tijuana River Estuary are no longer trampled upon.[52]

At the base of the filled portion of the gulch, underneath the border barrier, are two 10x culverts to allow water flow.[53] Following the construction of the border barrier in the gulch, a water channel was created to allow water from the gulch to flow into the Tijuana River; this channel is dredged and excavated yearly to remove trash, debris, and sands, which clog the channel.[54] These items that are removed, originating from Tijuana, are waste from various sources, including hospitals and home construction.[55] A sediment basin was built in the gulch in 2006;[56] [57] when the basins are emptied about 15000cuyd of trash and sediment are removed. Removed sediment is deposited in a former quarry located in the Tijuana River Valley.[58]

, the gulch south of Monument Road and north of the Mexico–United States barrier is owned by the County of San Diego. The gulch between the Mexico–United States barrier, and the Mexico–United States border, are federal lands.[59]

In the Summer of 2022, a 42inches sewer line in the Mexican side of the canyon broke, causing the sewage it was caring to flow through the canyon into the Tijuana River; it was repaired in December 2023.[60] Due to the flow of sewage into the Tijuana River beaches in South San Diego County were considered unsafe for human usage due to high bacteria levels.[61] The County of San Diego declared a state of emergency due to the increase of sewage flowing from Mexico into the Tijuana River, however the State of California did not declare a state of emergency at the state level.[62]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Spagat . Elliot . Associated Press . 15 August 2008 . Construction begins on $57M San Diego border fence . Fox News . 22 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190622230745/https://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2008Aug15/0,4675,BorderFence,00.html . 22 June 2019 . live .
  2. Web site: Bergerocactus emoryi . . 3 January 2017 . Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California . California Native Plant Society . 22 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190622211139/http://www.rareplants.cnps.org/detail/354.html . 22 June 2019 . live .
  3. Web site: Ambrosia monogyra . . 12 June 2013 . Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California . California Native Plant Society . 25 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626032120/http://www.rareplants.cnps.org/detail/3229.html . 26 June 2019 . live .
  4. Web site: Border Infrastructure: Photographing the US-Mexico Border . York . Katherine . 2 February 2015 . Blog . . 3 August 2019 . The Gulch is a steep canyon formed by two mesas, which includes California's last salt marsh, and is home to over 350 bird species (Sierra Club, 2008). .
  5. Book: Environmental Impact Statement for the Completion of the 14-Mile Border Infrastructure System San Diego, California: Volume II Appendices . United States Department of Homeland Security . Northwestern University Library . Washington, D.C. . July 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190419200446/https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CBP%20Presidential%20Transition%20Records%203.pdf . 19 April 2019 . Alt URL
  6. News: Edds . Kimberly . 10 March 2005 . U.S. Calls Entry Point in San Diego a Possible Security Risk - Fencing Sought to Reinforce the Border Faces Opposition From Environmentalists . National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers . The Washington Post . 3 August 2019 .
  7. News: . San Ysidro . Los Angeles Times . 10 September 1987 . 3 August 2019 .
  8. News: Sweeney . Don . 25 November 2018 . 5 things to know about massive San Ysidro border checkpoint closed by caravan protest . Sacramento Bee . 23 March 2020 .
  9. Joshi . Vipul . 1 June 2015 . Individual Biological Assessment Report: Tijuana River Pilot Channel and Smuggler's Gulch Channel . City of San Diego . Tijuana River Pilot Channel & Smuggler's Gulch FY 15/16 . 25 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170301070455/https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/stormwater/pdf/tjindividualbiologyassessment.pdf . 1 March 2017 . live .
  10. Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve . 14 April 2014 . Tijuana River Valley Existing Conditions Report . Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. 30 . CURRV project's Stakeholder Working Group . 3 August 2019 . Additionally,”… in the early 1990s, the City excavated an earthen channel (i.e., the Pilot Channel) to direct larger storm flows away from the northern portion of the valley where flooding has resulted in significant damage to public and private property [1].” .
  11. Dudek . Evans . Bryan . October 2015 . Final: Channel Maintenance Special Study – Tijuana River . City of San Diego . 25 June 2019 . California Water Boards .
  12. Schoenherr . Steven . July 2015 . The Tijuana River Valley Historic Sites . South Bay Historical Society Bulletin . 9 . 22 June 2019 . City of Chula Vista . https://web.archive.org/web/20160903055650/http://www.chulavistaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=12213 . 3 September 2016 . live .
  13. Dudek . Brad Comeau . 1 July 2016 . 2016 Substantial Conformance Review for Individual Maintenance Plan (IMP) and Individual Technical Assessments for Tijuana River Pilot Channel and Smuggler's Gulch, City of San Diego Site Development: Permit No. 1134892, Master Storm Water System Maintenance Program . City of San Diego . 22 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180918021151/https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/tjrvfy17-indiv-historical-assess.pdf . 18 September 2018 . live .
  14. Book: Barbara Zaragoza. San Ysidro and The Tijuana River Valley. 23 June 2014. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. 978-1-4396-4592-5. 9.
  15. AECOM . January 2015 . Appendix G: Prehistoric Cultural resource Assessment . City of San Diego . 15 . Community Plan Update - San Ysidro . 31 March 2020 . Gallegos placed the village of Melejo (also known as Melijo, Millejo, and Milejo) at the mouth of Smuggler’s Canyon, approximately 3 miles southwest of San Ysidro. .
  16. Carrico . Richard L. . Summer 1997 . Sociopolitical Aspects of the 1775 Revolt at Mission San Diego de Alcala . The Journal of San Diego History . 43 . 3 . 23 March 2020.
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  18. Web site: Boundary Monument #256 . Zaragoza . Barbara . South Bay Compass . 22 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190622200904/http://southbaycompass.com/boundary-monument-256/ . 22 June 2019 . live .
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  21. Zaragoza . Barbara . April 2015 . The San Diego-Tijuana Boundary Monuments . South Bay Historical Society Bulletin . 8 . 22 June 2019 . City of Chula Vista . https://web.archive.org/web/20160903055648/http://www.chulavistaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=12211 . 3 September 2016 . live .
  22. San Francisco Estuary Institute-Aquatic Science Center . Safran . Samuel . Baumgarten . Sean . Beller . Erin . Crooks . Jeff . Grossinger . Robin . Lorda . Julio . Longcore . Travis . Bram . Danielle . Dark . Shawna . Stein . Eric . McIntosh . Tyler . January 2017 . Tijuana River Valley Historical Ecology Investigation . The California State Coastal Conservancy . 22 June 2019 . Southern California Coastal Water Research Project . https://web.archive.org/web/20190622200906/http://ftp.sccwrp.org/pub/download/DOCUMENTS/TechnicalReports/967_TijuanaRiverValleyHistoricalEcologyInvestigation.pdf . 22 June 2019 . live .
  23. Web site: Tijuana River Valley . Schoenherr . Steve . 1 March 2015 . Sunnycv.com . South Bay Historical Society . 22 June 2019 .
  24. News: Meislin . Richard J. . 14 March 1985 . Mexico's Wayward Waste: U.S. Is Unhappy Host . The New York Times . 3 August 2019 . On occasion, such as heavy rains early in 1980, it has spilled into farming areas such as Smuggler's Gulch, near the border, making them unfit for raising food. .
  25. Book: Morrow, Robert. Immigration: Rich Diversity Or Social Burden?. 1 September 2009. Twenty-First Century Books. 978-0-7613-4080-5. 86–87.
  26. Delano . James Whitlow . 4 March 2016 . This Is What the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Actually Looks Like . National Geographic . Washington, D.C. . National Geographic Society . 26 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190629035209/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160304-us-mexico-border-fence-wall-photos-immigration/ . 29 June 2019 . dead .
  27. News: Elsworth . Catherine . 7 July 2005 . Smuggler's Gulch gap to be fenced in . Telegraph . United Kingdom . 22 June 2019 . But Congress insists that a critical breach in border security, where nearly 12 per cent of the 1.2 million illegal aliens arrested last year were captured, has to be closed. . https://web.archive.org/web/20190622170247/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/1493577/Smugglers-Gulch-gap-to-be-fenced-in.html . 22 June 2019 . live .
  28. Web site: Rotella . Sebastian . Migrants Hear Buchanan Pitch a Tighter Border : Speech: The GOP candidate calls the 'invasion' of illegal immigrants 'a national disgrace' as border-jumpers wait for him to leave so they can cross. . Los Angeles Times . 30 November 2023 . 13 May 1992.
  29. Hemmer . Nicole . The Man Who Won the Republican Party Before Trump Did . The New York Times . 8 September 2022 . 30 November 2023 . 0362-4331.
  30. News: Smith . Joshua Emerson . 27 May 2019 . Sewage flows from Tijuana completely shutter Imperial Beach shoreline . The Morning Call . Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania . 26 June 2019 .
    News: Rivera . Salvador . 14 February 2019 . Drivers urged not to cross flooded roads in Tijuana River Valley . KSWB-TV . San Diego . 26 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190215142547/https://fox5sandiego.com/2019/02/14/drivers-urged-not-to-cross-flooded-roads-in-tijuana-river-valley/ . 15 February 2019 . live .
  31. News: County Extends Imperial Beach Shoreline Closure After Sewage Contamination From Tijuana. 30 May 2019. KPBS. 3 August 2019.
    News: Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina speaks out after latest Tijuana sewage spill. Ong. Jermaine. 12 February 2018. ABC 10 News. 3 August 2019.
  32. Nunez-Neto . Blas . Kim . Yule . 13 May 2008 . Syracuse University . Border Security: barriers Along the U.S. International Border . Congressional Research Service . CRS-1 . 1 April 2020 .
  33. News: Broder . John M. . 4 July 2005 . With Congress's Blessing, a Border Fence May Finally Push Through to the Sea . The New York Times . 2 April 2020 . San Diego Border Infrastructure Environmental Litigation: Return of the Walking Dead by Edward A. Fitzgerald .
  34. News: Associated Press . 15 August 2008 . Construction begins on San Diego border fence . NBC News . 22 June 2019 .
  35. News: Inskeep . Steve . Robbins . Ted . 6 April 2006 . < San Diego Fence Provides Lessons in Border Control . NPR News . The Immigration Debate . Morning Edition . 28 March 2020 .
  36. News: Weiss . Kenneth R. . 19 February 2004 . State Rejects U.S. Border Barrier Plan . Los Angeles Times . 31 March 2020 .
    News: Reese . April . 15 January 2009 . Smuggler's Gulch project a 'disaster' for estuary, critics say . E&E News . Washington, D.C. . 31 March 2020 .
    News: . Associated Press . California Coastal Commission Rejects Plans For Border Fence . KFWB . Free Republic . Los Angeles . 18 February 2004 . 31 March 2020 .
  37. Book: Chad C. Haddal. Border Security: Barriers Along the U. S. International Border. 2010. DIANE Publishing. 978-1-4379-1970-7. 10–11.
    Nuñez-Neto . Blas . Viña . Stephen . 21 September 2006 . Border Security: Barriers Along the U.S. International Border . Congressional Research Service . Defense Technical Information Center . CRS-6 . 26 June 2019 .
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    Web site: The California Border Wall's Environmental Toll . . Sierra Club . 22 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170328142549/https://content.sierraclub.org/grassrootsnetwork/sites/content.sierraclub.org.activistnetwork/files/teams/documents/Sierra%20Club%20-%20california%20wall%20enviro.%20impacts%20handout.pdf . 28 March 2017 . live .
    Knight . Deborah . 31 January 2003 . An INS project threatens Southern California lands . . Seattle . 26 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160603074816/http://grist.org/article/borderline/ . 3 June 2016 . live .
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    News: Spagat . Elliot . Associated Press . 7 February 2019 . New U.S.-Mexico border barrier charts tricky course near people's homes . Chicago Tribune . 3 August 2019 .
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