SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Signs warning beachgoers to stay out of the water are lining the Imperial Beach shoreline.
It's nothing new after a storm when the Tijuana River flows.
"I don't know how much of it has gone into the ocean, but we do know that 380 million gallons have crossed the border," said Morgan Rogers, International Boundary and Water Commission.
He said every storm they expect the berm separating the water between the countries will break-and it did Friday when we saw storms across the county.
He said at the peak of the storm, there were over 500 million gallons of flow. It's a combination of rainwater, treated water, and sewage.
On Monday, the flow is close to what a normal dry day would look like at about 31 million gallons, according to Rogers.
"We were expecting more. We were prepared. We had shut down the pump station - so they wouldn't take all the extra rainwater. We also shut down some of the inputs to our [canyons]," said Rogers.
Days after the storm, the Tijuana River has trash and contaminants lining the water.
Rogers said solutions are in the works, including expanding the wastewater treatment plant, but he said that won't be complete for three to five years.
"We are looking at other things we can do. Right now, with our Mexican counterparts. We do regular surveys with them about the Tijuana River- trying to see where all these inflows are coming from- like the wastewater and other sources that contribute to the contamination. So we want to eliminate those," said Rogers.
