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NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico — Silvia Fernández Gallardo Boone leaned over a stream of water rushing through a concrete chute at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

“Smell it!” she said, beaming.

Odorless, treated wastewater flowed into the Coyote Arroyo, or creek, then the Rio Grande. Mere months earlier, more than 12 million gallons of raw sewage were leaking every day into the river and groundwater in Nuevo Laredo. After repairs to the treatment plant, to Fernández Gallardo’s delight, the flow of untreated wastewater has been significantly reduced.

“Being on the border, we really live our live

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