Isaac Santos, 22, remembers growing up with family barbecues at his aunt\u2019s house in Imperial Beach, south of San Diego, and swimming with his cousins. Sure, the ocean was dirty sometimes, but the beaches were open and accessible. <\/p>\n
But since late 2021, swaths of the south San Diego coast have been closed every day \u2014 1,345 days in a row and counting \u2014 because of sewage and industrial pollution flowing in from the Tijuana River. <\/p>\n
Santos is now an instructor with the nonprofit Outdoor Outreach, which connects youths to experiences in nature, and those pollution closures make it increasingly difficult to get the kids outdoors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not able to enjoy our waters in Imperial Beach \u2014 the nearest beach that they have to go to to have clean water access is at least 35 minutes away,\u201d he said. Kids here don\u2019t have their own cars, he said, and their parents are too busy working to drive them to a cleaner beach far away.<\/p>\n
The access he had as a kid, he says, was crucial for finding a purpose, and confidence in the work he does now. For youths in South Bay communities such as Imperial Beach, San Ysidro and Nestor, worsening river conditions the last few years have stripped away not just recreational opportunities but a key part of community life. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are generations of kids that are growing up in the South Bay, San Diego without an experience of what a clean beach is \u2014 the ability to go in the water and feel better when you come out of it,\u201d said Ben McCue, executive director of Outdoor Outreach. <\/p>\n
The Tijuana River is ranked the second-most endangered river in the United States by American Rivers. <\/p>\n
Data from the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health & Quality show the Imperial Beach shoreline this year has been closed every day except for one. <\/p>\n
The contamination of the Tijuana River and beaches isn\u2019t the only obstacle for outdoor groups trying to educate the next generation. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
People walk near the Imperial Beach Pier in July, disregarding the warning signs about sewage contamination.<\/p>\n
(Luke Johnson \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
For years, groups such as Outdoor Outreach, Mar de Colores and Paddle for Peace have driven youths to cleaner beaches miles away from their homes, providing surfboards, kayaks, swimming lessons and safety instruction \u2014 often introducing kids to the ocean for the first time. <\/p>\n
But they have not been allowed to visit the beach on weekends, could go only between Memorial and Labor days, only to three beaches, and each group needed a permit for each activity, per the city of San Diego, which has jurisdiction over the closest safe beaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very restrictive,\u201d McCue said.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s a large disparity. \u201cIf you\u2019re a kid who has the resources to get to the beach, the parents who know where to go, who have the free time to take you, the equipment, all of our parks and beaches are open to you,\u201d McCue said. <\/p>\n
In an effort to address such barriers, state lawmakers in 2024 passed AB 2939, to ensure nonprofit and tribal programs have equal access to parks and beaches. <\/p>\n
Advocates hoped it would bring local rules in line with the California Coastal Act\u2019s promise of access for all. It went into effect in January 2025, and for seven months, McCue said, groups like his had easier access, even to San Diego\u2019s Mission Bay, which has some of the closest and best beaches for children and families. <\/p>\n
But the city of San Diego has been fighting back against the new law. In a heated City Council meeting at the end of July, city officials argued for the restrictions \u201cbecause water-based instructional activities are inherently high-risk and drastically differ from activities on a beach or in a park. These requirements are designed to ensure that all operators, regardless of nonprofit status, meet the same rigorous standards necessary to protect participants, instructors, and the public.\u201d <\/p>\n
The city of San Diego did not respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
People surf at Imperial Beach, which has been plagued by sewage contamination.<\/p>\n
(Luke Johnson \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Dozens of residents and youth advocates testified. \u201cThey\u2019re citing safety and liability, but it\u2019s not based on data. It\u2019s not based on anything that we\u2019ve done or any experiences that they\u2019ve had with us,\u201d said Ramon Chairez, director of education and environmental advocacy for Mar de Colores. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf they knew who we were, they would know that we have incredible safety standards, we have one-to-one ratios with kids in terms of instructors and kids,\u201d Chairez said.<\/p>\n
The resolution failed after community pushback and a letter from the California Coastal Commission reminding the city of the state law. City officials are now in talks with advocates to find a compromise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make sure this summer kids can get out and experience the joy of putting their feet in the sand, standing up on a surfboard for the first time, and not being afraid of coming out and getting sick,\u201d McCue said. <\/p>\n
A Public Health and Environmental Crisis<\/p>\n
Tijuana River pollution stems from decades of inadequate wastewater infrastructure on both sides of the border, compounded by rapid population growth in Tijuana.<\/p>\n
Officials from both countries recently announced new commitments to accelerate long-planned repairs. But even under the most optimistic timeline, many South Bay beaches will remain unsafe for years, said Phillip Musegaas, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper.<\/p>\n
Dr. Vi Nguyen, a pediatrician in San Diego County, has seen the physiological toll the closures take on patient physical and mental health. \u201cKids [that] don\u2019t have access to those areas is a very big concern for our pediatricians \u2014 kids need to be able, to be allowed to move their bodies, to play.\u201d Nguyen concludes, \u201cplaying in more natural spaces is healthier for them, we know that nature is quite restorative for kids.\u201d Physicians are worried about rates of obesity, prediabetes, fatty liver and other metabolic diseases, she said. <\/p>\n
For advocates like Risa Bell, founder of Paddle for Peace, it is also about building environmental literacy, leadership and a sense of belonging. \u201cAccess to the coast is not a luxury and it\u2019s not a privilege. It\u2019s a human right that\u2019s tied to health, culture and community well-being,\u201d Bell said. \u201cIf you want the next generation to fight for the ocean, they have to be able to safely touch it. \u2026 That\u2019s the only way that we\u2019re gonna raise the future environmental leaders that are ready to protect it not just for their communities but for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shifting baselines<\/p>\n
Advocates worry about \u201cshifting baselines\u201d \u2014 the idea that each generation\u2019s understanding of what\u2019s normal is shaped by the degraded environment they inherit. <\/p>\n
\u201cKids growing up in San Ysidro and Imperial Beach today, their experience is that the ocean\u2019s dirty and that you go in it and you get sick,\u201d McCue said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to shift that to show them, actually, it doesn\u2019t have to be like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you fall in love with the ocean, [you] grow up wanting to protect it,\u201d Bell said. \u201cThey\u2019re gonna grow up and be a part of that fight one day, right, but they can\u2019t protect a place that they\u2019re not even allowed to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Isaac Santos, 22, remembers growing up with family barbecues at his aunt\u2019s house in Imperial Beach, south of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":155536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[717,11460,5229,12883,90772,1582,276,2451,2385,46267,22717,90774,18996,1759,936,90773,3549,90771,7264,13234,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-155535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-access","9":"tag-advocate","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-beach","12":"tag-ben-mccue","13":"tag-ca","14":"tag-california","15":"tag-city","16":"tag-day","17":"tag-generation","18":"tag-imperial-beach","19":"tag-instructor","20":"tag-kid","21":"tag-nature","22":"tag-ocean","23":"tag-outdoor-group","24":"tag-san-diego","25":"tag-san-diego-youth","26":"tag-sandiego","27":"tag-tijuana-river","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-united-states-of-america","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","32":"tag-us","33":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115049426073713875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}