On June 5, 2026, the community of Alamar in Tijuana achieved a historic milestone! The State of Baja California issued a declaration to protect and preserve the Alamar Creek. The Declaration protects 41.67 hectares (4.3 million square feet (ft²) along the Alamar Creek, which is home to important biodiversity of wild flora and fauna. This achievement is the result of more than 15 years of community activism led by the Colectivo Salud y Justicia Ambiental – EHC’s sister organization in Tijuana.
The declaration is titled “Declaration of Uses and Destinations for the Conservation Park of Fragile Riparian Ecosystems in the Alamar Creek,” and was published in the Official State Gazette. It prohibits garbage dumps, sewage discharges, logging, and irregular settlements, and divides the area into three conservation zones with varying levels of protection. The declaration’s objective is to preserve the natural area around the stream, maintain the natural flow of water, and recharge the aquifer, offering permanent environmental services to the city.
“The Declaration does not clean the stream,” said Magdalena Cerda, Director, Colectivo Salud y Justicia Ambiental. “The Alamar continues to accumulate garbage, debris, and clandestine discharges, and that does not change from one day to the next. What does change is that now we have the institutional framework to make rehabilitation possible for the environmental health of Tijuana.”
The declaration is the culmination of more than a decade of shared work by neighbors, civil society organizations, researchers, academia, and communities that live along the stream.