A few clouds. Low 69F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..
A few clouds. Low 69F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
After a pipeline rupture caused a sewage leak in Tijuana, the beaches of Coronado once again saw closures on August 3. As of this weekend, the Coronado shoreline has been reopened with warning signs placed along the coast, with Silver Strand State Beach and Imperial Beach still remaining closed. While warning signs have gone up advising against water entry, many visitors, as well as locals, continue to swim and surf in contaminated waters. Water pollution has been a major issue in Coronado as well as Imperial Beach for decades now, stemming from two primary cross-border sources; the Tijuana River, and a deteriorated wastewater treatment plant six miles south of the border in San Antonio de los Buenos.
On Saturday, July 30, a repair gone wrong compromised the integrity of two pipelines in Tijuana’s Matadero Canyon. The two pipelines, PB1A, and PB1B, flow wastewater to the treatment plant in San Antonio de los Buenos. Pipeline PB1A was left in tact but compromised, while pipeline PB1B was left disconnected and missing a section of piping. According to the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), the cause was a failed air vent device within one of the pipelines, which caused erosion of the soil surrounding both pipelines, as well as uncontrolled flow of wastewater.
Typically, this pipeline rupture would carry the wastewater south of San Diego to Smugglers Gulch Canyon Collector, giving it time to dilute before reaching our beaches. Unfortunately, a large amount of sediment within the flowing wastewater caused the shut down of Smugglers Gulch. This, in turn, has caused all flows to now be diverted to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP) in San Diego.
According to the IBWC, the South Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant is now receiving up to 50 million gallons of wastewater per day. The amount of wastewater flowing daily into the SBIWTP is more than can be treated at that plant, meaning the flows are heading directly into the ocean. Unfortunately, another major closure has caused even more problems on this side of the border. Trash and sewage come from all over Northern Mexico and often make way to the Tijuana River, which flows directly into the United States via the Tijuana River Mouth. Mexico uses a diversion to take the river water to a pump station, which then delivers it to a treatment plant. The pump station is called Punta Bandera, and due to the broken wastewater lines, it has also been shut down. This means that an extra 30 million gallons of wastewater and trash per day are now staying in the Tijuana River, and eventually flowing across the border to our beaches. Conditions have been made exponentially worse due to strong swells caused by a hurricane in Baja.
There have been many plans over the years focused on fixing the cross-border sewage crisis we are still facing today. However, after countless closures in recent years, it seems that we may be inching closer to a concrete solution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that “In 2020, the U.S. government, through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, committed $300 million in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), to identify infrastructure solutions to mitigate this decades-old problem. The USMCA requires EPA, in coordination with eligible public entities, to carry out the planning, design, and construction of high priority treatment works in the Tijuana River watershed to address transboundary flow pollution.”
A draft of that plan was recently announced, and made available for public review. The deadline for public comments was August 1. While the City of Coronado has not released any official statement, the City did recently provide comments on the draft. In these comments, the City showed support for a set of comprehensive projects known as Alternative 2. Included in Alternative 2 is a proposed renovation of the San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant. The plan contains several other large and small scale measures to reduce cross-border pollution. The estimated budget to cover the projects proposed in Alternative 2 is $627 million. This means that the EPA would require another $300 million (or more) to complete these projects, in addition to the $300 million already granted.
Both the City of Coronado and the City of Imperial Beach seem to be very aware of the severity of this issue and are working to push for major changes. The IBWC also stated in a press release on August 2, that they “recognize the urgency of this situation.” In the coming months, we are sure to see more pollution-related beach closures throughout southern San Diego, so make sure to stay updated on the quality of the water before you dive in.
You can visit www.sdbeachinfo.com, a website used by the County to keep track of current beach closures and pollution levels.
You can also visit https://sccoos.org/stormwater-plume-tracking/ to track the flow from the Tijuana River Mouth in real-time.
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Join Edith Salas of Salas Properties & host Jenn Barlow as they visit the Coronado Shores community. The towers have amazing views including the world famous Hotel del Coronado, downtown San Diego, San Diego Bay, the City of Coronado, Point Loma, and the Pacific Ocean.
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