---
title: "Cross-border sewage keeps Imperial Beach children out of the water for a third summer"
description: "Chronic sewage pollution flowing north from the Tijuana River has closed much of Imperial Beach's shoreline since 2023, forcing summer camps and youth lifeguard programs to bus children miles away for a chance to get in the ocean."
category: "California"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/california
author: "Naomi Fields"
published: 2026-07-14T10:00:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-14T10:00:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/cross-border-sewage-keeps-imperial-beach-children-out-of-the-water-for-a-third-s
tags: ["imperial beach", "tijuana river", "water quality", "public health", "environment"]
---
# Cross-border sewage keeps Imperial Beach children out of the water for a third summer

Chronic sewage pollution flowing north from the Tijuana River has closed much of Imperial Beach's shoreline since 2023, forcing summer camps and youth lifeguard programs to bus children miles away for a chance to get in the ocean.

In a beach town, summer is supposed to happen in the water. In Imperial Beach, at the southwestern corner of the continental United States, it increasingly happens on a bus. Chronic cross-border sewage pollution has kept much of the shoreline closed or under health advisories, and the community's summer institutions have had to move their children elsewhere to swim.

## Camps and lifeguards on the move

The toll is visible at YMCA Camp Surf, which sits on the sand at Imperial Beach. Its overnight enrollment has [dropped from about 1,200 campers to roughly 700](https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2026/07/13/sewage-pollution-is-keeping-kids-out-of-the-water-in-imperial-beach) as the water became unreliable, and campers who once learned to surf out front now [board buses for a 40-minute ride to Mission Beach](https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/07/sewage-pollution-imperial-beach-camp/).

Other programs travel even farther. Outdoor Outreach, which brings local youth to the water, [has at times driven participants some 50 miles north to Oceanside](https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/07/sewage-pollution-imperial-beach-camp/) to find a beach clean enough to use. Since 2023, much of Imperial Beach's shoreline has been [almost continually closed or posted for unhealthy water quality](https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2026/07/13/sewage-pollution-is-keeping-kids-out-of-the-water-in-imperial-beach).

## Where the pollution comes from

The source lies across the border. As Tijuana's population has grown, wastewater treatment on both sides of the line has failed to keep pace, and untreated sewage flows down the Tijuana River and into the ocean off the South Bay. During storms the volumes surge, sending contaminated water and, at times, a rotten-egg stench of hydrogen sulfide across the community. Residents [report headaches, asthma and rashes](https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2026/07/13/sewage-pollution-is-keeping-kids-out-of-the-water-in-imperial-beach), and some local schools shift to indoor schedules when pollution spikes.

Imperial Beach is a working-class city of about 25,000, [where 53% of residents are Latino and the median household income is roughly $86,000](https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/07/sewage-pollution-imperial-beach-camp/), well below the county norm, a community that has borne the problem while others upstream stay dry and open.

## Slow-moving fixes

Governments on both sides of the border have committed money to the problem. The United States and Mexico have [pledged a combined $800 million to repair failing treatment plants](https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/07/sewage-pollution-imperial-beach-camp/), part of agreements meant to curb the flows over time. Locally, Imperial Beach is [seeking about $25 million to address the Saturn Boulevard "hot spot,"](https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/07/sewage-pollution-imperial-beach-camp/) a chronic source of foul air, and has floated building a splash pad near the pier so children have somewhere to cool off.

Those projects, though, run on the timelines of infrastructure, not summers. For the families of Imperial Beach, another warm season is passing with the ocean in sight and the buses idling in the parking lot.

## Sources

- [Sewage pollution is keeping kids out of the water in this California beach town](https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/07/sewage-pollution-imperial-beach-camp/)
- [Sewage pollution is keeping kids out of the water in Imperial Beach](https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2026/07/13/sewage-pollution-is-keeping-kids-out-of-the-water-in-imperial-beach)