A failure in the Booster El Carrizo pumping system has left approximately 280,000 residents across 252 neighborhoods in Tijuana and Playas de Rosarito without running water. CESPT (Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana) announced Thursday that gradual restoration will not begin until Tuesday, July 14, leaving most affected areas without service for more than a week.
The booster pump was installed in 2021 at a cost of 20 million pesos (approximately $1 million USD). It was designed to boost distribution capacity by 600 liters per second during peak summer demand. Repair crews have moved the equipment to the Colorado River-Tijuana Aqueduct workshops to speed up the turnaround.
Water Trucks and Private Sellers Filling the Gap
CESPT is dispatching free water trucks to the hardest-hit colonias, though routes and schedules are changing frequently. Private water truck operators are also delivering, charging 120 pesos (about $6 USD) per 200-liter drum from a private well in Colonia Altiplano. That works out to roughly 600 pesos ($30 USD) per cubic meter, a steep price for families already stretched by summer expenses.
Bottled water purification plants across the affected zone report surging demand and warn that supplies could run short. Residents in neighborhoods not listed on the official CESPT outage map, including Los Álamos, Valle Verde, and Buenos Aires Norte, are also reporting dry taps. Authorities advise those residents not to wait for official confirmation before seeking alternative water sources.
Pattern of Infrastructure Failures
The outage is the latest in a series of water disruptions to hit Tijuana. In September 2025, a leak in the Reverse Flow Aqueduct near the Piedras Blancas subdivision cut service to 42 colonias in Tijuana and Rosarito. Earlier this year, repairs on the Florido-Aguaje Aqueduct knocked out water to more than 690 colonias and affected over 1.5 million residents. That project, initially expected to last two days, stretched to more than three after crews discovered additional leaks.
Tijuana’s aging water infrastructure serves a metropolitan area of nearly two million people. The city depends heavily on water pumped from the Colorado River through a long aqueduct system, making it particularly vulnerable when pumping stations or pipelines fail during high-demand summer months.
For residents and expats in the affected zones, the immediate priority is securing stored water. CESPT has published neighborhood lists on its social media channels, but coverage has been incomplete. Those experiencing outages should contact CESPT directly or monitor local Facebook groups for updated water truck schedules.
This story is based on reporting by Jornada BC.