SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A recent CDC survey reveals that 80% of South Bay residents say their lives have been negatively impacted by sewage contamination, affecting both their health and the local economy.
"It just permeates everywhere. I hate to say it, but you can taste it, and I feel like it's contributing to our headaches and sore throats constantly," said Bobbi Otero, an Imperial Beach resident.
The issue extends beyond health concerns, severely impacting local businesses as tourists avoid the area.
"Unfortunately, when they hear that the water is polluted, people who would come down here don't," said a representative from the Imperial Beach Historical Society.
The persistent smell is driving away visitors, hurting businesses and leaving the Imperial Beach coastline nearly deserted.
This problem isn't new.
ABC 10News archive footage from 1987 shows the long-standing nature of the crisis.
"San Diego depends on its beaches, and right now we're all being set up for a major knockout," an interviewee said in '87. "The contamination is confined to Imperial Beach right now, but any change in the current could send sewage laden with every disease known to mankind washing ashore on beaches much farther north. Where will tourism be then?"
Nearly four decades later, the situation has worsened.
"It's been 1,000 days too long," said Ivan Lopez, a local surfer, referring to the southern end of the beach that has been closed for nearly three years due to sewage contamination.
The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego maintains a Quality of Life Dashboard that monitors several factors, including air quality, civic engagement, housing, and beach and coastal health. The latter is currently ranked as "worsening" because of increasing water advisories and beach closures.
"Beach mile days is essentially the mile of coastline affected, multiplied by the number of days it has been posted to be closed," explained Eo Hanabusa, Equinox Research and Engagement Coordinator at USD.
The data shows a dramatic increase in closures.
"In 2022, the number of closures that we saw due to impacts from the pollution coming from the Tijuana River was at 722. And in 2023, that jumped up to 2,229 beach mile days," Hanabusa said.
The trend shows no signs of improvement.
"Looking at the 2024 data, it is pretty much looking up to par as 2023 in that there are a high number of closures due to those impacts from the pollution," Hanabusa said.
The impact extends beyond environmental concerns to economic ones.
"Beaches are a big part of our culture here in San Diego, whether that be tourism and recreation, so the health of our beaches is closely connected to the health of our economy," Hanabusa said.
