Hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding could be coming from the federal government to stop the flow of sewage into the South Bay, although developments on Wednesday could put that money in jeopardy.
Congressional leaders on Tuesday agreed on a bill to keep the government funded through mid-March, averting a government shutdown. But President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected the already fragile plan Wednesday, leaving Congress scrambling on Capitol Hill just days before funding was set to run out Friday.
The stopgap measure would have prevented a shutdown until March 14, and it contained money for a project critical in San Diego: $250 million to fix and expand the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant -- one of the plants that is supposed to treat sewage flowing into San Diego from Mexico.
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It is unclear how that local funding would be affected by the reopened negotiations or whether a deal would be made in time to avoid Friday's shutdown.
Back in September, the government broke ground on the repairs to the plant even though they didn't have the money to completely fund the project. Since then, San Diego's congressional delegation has been pushing for more money.
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Before the downfall of the bill, a spokesman for Rep. Scott Peters said the funding in Tuesday's deal was enough to finish the job.
At that time, local leaders told NBC 7 the funding was a step in the right direction but that there was more work to be done, including cleaning up the environmental damage caused by years of untreated sewage.
Editorial Note: This story was updated on Dec. 18 to reflect the collapse of the spending package.
