IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - Imperial Beach is bracing for foul smells and more beach closures as rain began falling across San Diego Wednesday.
Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina said so far, the city has had 19 beach closures as a result of all the rainfall the area has seen.
“I think it’s a lot considering its February 13,” Dedina said. “The southern part of our beach has been closed permanently since the beginning of the year, so its a lot. One day is too much.”
Imperial Beach had its annual water quality meeting Wednesday as well. Water runoff from the Tijuana River Valley and how to stop it dominated the conversation.
“The Border Patrol released a study about the chemicals in that water, a lot of banned chemicals,” Dedina said. “There’s no recycling in Tijuana, so all the illegal dump washes into the Tijuana River Valley. I think what came out of the meeting is that people want to see daily testing and that’s something we want to work on with the port and the county.”
“We filed a lawsuit along with the city of San Diego, Chula Vista, the Port of San Diego, Surfrider Foundation, to get the infrastructure in the river valley, so those flows are stopped,” he added, “and we’re pressuring Mexico right now to spend money and fix their problem.”
