200 Days Without Federal Action on Border Sewage Spill
How would you like it if your favorite beach was closed once every week because of sewage in the water? … and the problem persisted year after year without federal or state assistance?
This is what has been happening at Imperial Beach for over a decade. Imperial Beach is located at the United States and Mexico border and is home to amazing beaches and surf. Unfortunately, it is often too polluted by sewage and wastewater from the Tijuana River to enjoy.
Sewage discharges from Mexico into the Tijuana River flow into the the Pacific Ocean and are responsible for over 80% of all San Diego beach closures. In February 2017, between 140 – 256 million gallons of Mexico’s raw sewage were discharged near the United States coastline. Sewage plumes were visible and the smell lingered across San Diego beaches. Since then, there have been fourteen additional small spills of raw sewage from Mexico, but there has been no Federal led emergency clean-up effort despite ill residents, dead wildlife and no firm plan to stop sewage moving forward.
This is unacceptable for the San Diego County Chapter, area beachgoers, and for all of us who love to swim, surf, and play in the ocean. If you live in San Diego, you can join the chapter's No Border Sewage Campaign in asking Congress to start demanding a solution to this problem. Click here to send your email.
Visit the San Diego Chapter's website for their full policy position on the border sewage issue.
For more information on sewage in the Tijuana River, check out Surfrider's No Border Sewage campaign video.