Cover photo: Ana Ramirez, Uptown 11 Studios - Sarah Davidson in front of the CA State Capitol wearing the respirator required to stay safe in parts of the Tijuana River Valley
The Tijuana River Watershed is a strikingly beautiful and deeply meaningful place for communities on both sides of the Mexico/U.S. border. It provides critical habitat to countless species and is the largest remaining coastal wetland in Southern California. Yet, each year, billions of gallons of untreated sewage, industrial waste, and trash flow across the border through the river and enter the Pacific Ocean, causing beach closures throughout South San Diego County and widespread illnesses throughout the region. In 2025, that number reached more than 15.2 billion gallons in polluted transboundary flows.
Based in San Diego, Surfrider’s Clean Border Water Now Program addresses the transboundary pollution that is causing a grave public health and environmental justice crisis in the San Diego/Tijuana cross-border region.
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California's Senate Bill 58 and Senate Bill 1046 mark important progress in the struggle for clean air, clean water, and safe communities in South San Diego County.
For years, communities in the San Diego-Tijuana cross-border region have lived with a pollution crisis that should never have become the new normal. Billions of gallons of sewage, industrial waste, and trash cross the U.S.-Mexico border through the Tijuana River Watershed each year, contaminating waterways and the Pacific Ocean, closing beaches, harming ecosystems, disrupting local economies, and threatening the health of people who live, work, and spend time in the region.
And the pollution doesn't stay in the water.
Left photo from Veriditas Rising and Surfrider Foundation: Saturn Boulevard "hot spot" where hydrogen sulfide is released into the air
Right photo from Surfrider Foundation: New San Diego County sign at Saturn Boulevard hot spot
Contaminated flows in the Tijuana River Valley can release hydrogen sulfide and other pollutants into the air, creating dangerous conditions for nearby residents, school children, and outdoor workers.
This year, California took two important steps toward protecting them.
The California Legislature passed Senate Bill 58 and Senate Bill 1046, and Governor Gavin Newsom signed both into law. For Surfrider Foundation's Clean Border Water Now Program, these laws represent an important victory for the communities that have been demanding action for years.
SB 58: A New Approach to Hydrogen Sulfide
Senate Bill 58, authored by Senator Steve Padilla, establishes a new framework for California to better understand and respond to hydrogen sulfide pollution.
The law requires the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop a response framework that considers acute and chronic exposure, monitoring practices, indoor and outdoor exposure, and local conditions.
Importantly for Tijuana River Valley communities, SB 58 requires a public workshop to be held in the Tijuana River Valley region, giving affected community members an opportunity to participate in developing the policies designed to protect them.
Governor Newsom signed SB 58 into law on September 20, 2026.
SB 1046: Protecting Workers on the Front Lines
Senate Bill 1046, authored by Senator Catherine Blakespear, addresses another critical need: protecting workers who cannot simply walk away from polluted outdoor environments.
Lifeguards, park rangers, and other outdoor workers may face elevated or prolonged exposure to transboundary pollution as part of their jobs.
SB 1046 requires Cal/OSHA to propose a workplace safety standard for employees at high risk of exposure to transboundary pollution. The standard may address protective equipment, medical surveillance, hazard communication, exposure reporting, and worker training.
These protections are especially important because the larger infrastructure solutions needed to stop transboundary pollution will take time. Workers need protections right now while that work continues.
Governor Newsom signed SB 1046 into law on September 27, 2026.
A Victory Built by Community Voices
These victories are the result of years of advocacy by residents, workers, environmental advocates, community organizations, scientists, public health professionals, and elected officials.
Through Surfrider's Clean Border Water Now program, we have worked alongside impacted communities and partners to raise awareness, advocate for policy change, and advance solutions to the pollution threatening the San Diego-Tijuana region, including the Tijuana River Coalition - made up of over 75 community based organizations across San Diego County and Tijuana.
Bottom left photo from Sierra Club San Diego Chapter: Press conference requesting environmental protections added to USMCA
Right photo from Edgar Ontiveros Medina: Tijuana River advocates gather at Unite to Heal Our Coast event
We are grateful for the California Legislature passing these bills, and for Governor Gavin Newsom signing them into law.
We are also grateful to the hundreds of Californians who contacted their elected officials, signed letters, attended meetings, shared their experiences, and made their voices heard. Over 850 Californians signed our petition to the Legislature and Governor urging them to pass these laws. We could not have done this without you!
Your advocacy matters.
This is a Victory - But We Are Not Done
SB 58 and SB 1046 are important steps forward, but they cannot, by themselves, stop pollution from crossing the border. That will require continued investment in wastewater infrastructure, long-term maintenance, international cooperation, continued grassroots advocacy and collaboration, effective monitoring, and sustained action at every level of government.
Surfrider's Clean Border Water Now Program will continue advocating for those solutions. The people who live, work, and play along the Tijuana River Watershed deserve what every community deserves:
Clean water. Clean air. Safe workplaces. Safe schools. Safe homes. Open beaches. Healthy communities.
Today, we celebrate two important steps toward that future.
Thank you to everyone who continues to fight for Clean Border Water Now. The work continues - and together, we will keep pushing until this crisis is solved.
Here’s What You Can Do to Help:
Photo: Veriditas Rising