Sewage pollution keeps children away from water in this seaside town

Written by Deborah Brennan, CalMatters

YMCA Camp Surf campers walk towards the ocean at Mission Beach in San Diego on July 2, 2026. Photography: Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

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Last week at YMCA Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, a group of middle school students spent the morning skateboarding, climbing a climbing tower and practicing archery.

Then, at noon, campers boarded buses for the 40-minute drive to Mission Beach along the coast and jumped into the waves for the camp’s eponymous activity: surfing.

Founded in 1969, Camp Surf has introduced generations of South San Diego children to water sports and outdoor activities. With its oceanfront location and surf hut motif, this hotel epitomizes Southern California beach life.

But in recent years, persistent sewage pollution from Tijuana has restricted access to the waterfront, forcing camps to find workarounds.

“We’re not going to be able to go right into the water at Camp Surf, but we’re going to have to run buses to other beaches,” said Jamie Cosson, executive director of overnight camping at the San Diego YMCA. “And that hurt people’s relationship with the camp.”

Cross-border sewage pollution has plagued Imperial Beach, Coronado and other areas of South San Diego for decades and has worsened in recent years. As Tijuana’s population grew and sewage treatment plants on both sides of the border failed, hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage poured into the ocean. This has offended swimmers and surfers and led to near-continuous restrictions on the beach for the past three years.

Imperial Beach residents say they woke up with headaches, asthma and rashes after being exposed to airborne pollutants from the water and the Tijuana River. When pollution levels spike, schools activate a “rainy day schedule.” Struggling to breathe, sleep, and swim, many residents of primarily working-class, majority-Latino communities believe their environmental burden is being ignored.

Sewage and chemicals create a layer of foam bubbling along parts of the Tijuana River after a rainy day in San Diego, Nov. 21, 2025. Cinematography: Adriana Heldiz, Calmaters

Pollution is also eroding traditions, discouraging outdoor activities and making a generation of seaside residents wary of water.

“Without access to free and fun activities, the community isn’t as connected as it was when I was a kid,” said Taylor Case, 18, a recent graduate of Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach.

when the coast is closed for surfing

There is an amphitheater at the entrance to Camp Surf where children and staff gather for songs, skits and a campfire. Behind it is a cottage painted in sage, teal and tan colors, topped with palm thatch and netting. The wood-beam dining hall has a wall of windows facing the empty beachfront.

Program director Peyton Schoonmaker said the shoreline was once filled with campers surfing, boogie boarding and building sandcastles. Church groups, Girl Scouts, and families camped out on weekends.

“In the past, you would have seen something like a tent city with 300 people camping on the beach,” he said. “But now a lot of our business is gone.”

Last week, campers followed their counselors on a quick hike along the coast. “I’m going to take a walk on the beach and then pick up some trash.”

This summer, the facility will serve approximately 700 overnight campers in grades 3 through 12. That’s down from 1,200 cases in the past, Cosson said. Approximately 400 day campers from 1st to 7th grade will also participate.

Schedule outdoor activities throughout the day so you can unwind from screens and social media feeds. Electronic devices are prohibited. Children check their phones at the gate.

“I think camping has an incredibly important niche in society right now, where you get away from electricity, you get out into nature, you get away from an outlet, and you build real relationships,” Cosson said.

Campers spend part of their day playing soccer, making arts and crafts, practicing climbing a 35-foot tower, riding the ramps at the skate park, and lining up for target practice at the archery range.

Last week, when two girls were debating whether the arrow hit the bullseye or the yellow ring around it, one boy couldn’t help but tease them.

“In the first round, they may not even reach the target,” Schoonmaker said. “By the final round, they were able to hit all five arrows on target, and within just an hour, we started seeing growth.”

Developing confidence and independence is at the heart of the camp experience, he said. “It’s all about making friends, trying new things and feeling a sense of belonging.”

beginning: Campers walk along the shores of Imperial Beach. last: A camper draws a bow during an archery activity at YMCA Camp Surf in Imperial Beach on July 2, 2026. Photography: Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Campers play with rocks while waiting to put away their gear after completing skateboard and scooter activities at YMCA Camp Surf in Imperial Beach on July 2, 2026. Photography: Adriana Heldiz, Calmaters

It’s also about surfing. Starting in 2023, camp beaches will be off-limits for most of the summer, forcing campers to travel to surf and swim.

Water conditions permitting, we take a 15-minute bus ride north to neighboring Coronado. Lately, the city has also faced beach closures, so campers trek further north.

At noon last week, they boarded a bus, ate turkey sandwiches on the lawn of South Mission Beach, and then rowed off en masse. Some children fell over as soon as the board popped out, while others quickly got the hang of it and started trying tricks. One boy jumped up, turned 180 degrees on his board, and surfed towards the shore.

“We made it work,” Cosson said. “We still have a lot of kids. It’s just a challenge for us.”

junior lifeguard training

The impact of beach closures extends beyond that program, creating gaps in outdoor education, physical activity, recreation and water safety for children across South San Diego.

“There are children who grow up in areas where they can’t go into the water, and that’s really tragic because that’s where they learn about water safety and swimming,” Cosson said.

Like Camp Surf, Imperial Beach’s junior lifeguard program has been in makeshift mode since the pandemic.

The program was suspended during the coronavirus shutdown, but was later restarted due to another health hazard: sewage contamination.

“I don’t think the beach was open one day,” said Jason Lindquist, chief lifeguard at Imperial Beach. “We go to remote areas. We bus everyone out of here. We can’t use the beach for anything. It’s been tough.”

They are adapting by chartering school buses to ferry junior lifeguards to the coast. Initially, they bused their children to neighboring Silver Strand Beach, a few minutes north. But when that beach faced frequent water closures, it had to switch gears.

A YMCA Camp Surf camper rides the waves at Mission Beach in San Diego on July 2, 2026. Photo: Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Imperial Beach lifeguards work with neighboring lifeguard departments to assemble a schedule for a three-week program that visits nearly every beach city in San Diego County.

“All the other lifeguard agencies have said you’re welcome to come here anytime,” Lindquist said. “We’ve been all over the county, and our young lifeguards probably have the most comprehensive view of the coastline.”

Although some children are discouraged by the long bus ride, many participants and their parents like the variety, he said. Demand for this program typically exceeds capacity, and bus and staffing limitations prevent us from accommodating as many junior lifeguards as we would like.

This makes it difficult to prepare Imperial Beach’s young people to enjoy the ocean safely and train some to become professional lifeguards.

“Imperial Beach’s identity has always been rooted in our coastline, and our Imperial Beach Junior Lifeguard Program plays an important role in preparing local youth to become effective marine lifesavers, good citizens and community leaders,” Imperial Beach Mayor Mitch McKay said in a statement to CalMatters. “The importance of this program cannot be overstated. Many of the city’s current and past lifeguards have actually graduated from the junior lifeguard ranks and become highly qualified, full-time and loyal city employees.”

That beach doesn’t exist anymore

Families and community leaders in Imperial Beach have thought a lot about what it means to live in a place where much of the outdoors is off-limits due to pollution.

The city of 25,000 people is 53% Latino and has a median household income of $86,000, about $20,000 below the San Diego County average and at least $50,000 below neighboring coastal cities. This is one of the few places in the area where working class families can live close to the beach. But they can’t use it.

“I always wonder what message it sends to young people and families when their local beach is closed and the air is difficult to breathe,” said Tiffany Currie, public policy coordinator for the San Diego program Outdoor Outreach.

This organization provides surfing lessons and outdoor education to children in South San Diego. It’s just not their home. Similar to Camp Surf, we take the kids to other beaches by bus. In some cases, we go as far north as Oceanside, 80 miles away.

“Whenever we serve young people who have been affected by pollution, we have to take them out of the community,” Curry said.

Warning signs about sewage and chemical contamination posted along the coast of Imperial Beach on November 21, 2025. Photography: Adriana Heldis, CalMatters

Sergio Gonzalez, 16, recently went on a field trip to SeaWorld with an organization from his Mar Vista High School marine biology class. His class also visits the beach to test water quality at Imperial Beach.

“When you walk on the beach, you see dead animals and birds,” Gonzalez said. “That’s really worrying. I wish we could do something about it.”

San Diego County tests beach water daily and in 2022 introduced a DNA-based test that provides results in hours instead of days. They issue warnings or advisories when bacterial levels or other contaminants exceed state standards, and force closures when water is contaminated by known sewage or chemical spills. Since 2023, much of Imperial Beach’s shoreline has been closed or under alert almost continuously due to unhealthy water quality.

Some improvements are in progress. The United States and Mexico have set aside $800 million combined to repair failing sewage treatment plants, and both countries upgraded the facilities last year. Local officials are seeking $25 million to remediate what’s known as the Saturn Boulevard hotspot, which is the source of much of the air pollution. This year, Imperial Beach will build a splash pad near the pier and offer water activities closer to shore, McKay said.

For some young people in the community, these solutions seem far away. Taylor Case had heard stories of summer nights her mother and other Imperial Beach natives had around bonfires on the beach and wanted to experience that before heading off to college in the fall.

“They talk about how much fun they had with their friends and family and how strong the community was, and I don’t see that now,” said Case, who hasn’t been in the water near her home since 2017. “And I’m sure it’s because of pollution, because that beach is no longer there.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.

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