A Critical Estuary Under Threat

The Tijuana River flows roughly 190 kilometers through the mountains and deserts of northwest Mexico before reaching the Pacific Ocean, where it forms the Tijuana River Estuary — a U.S. National Estuarine Research Reserve spanning 930 hectares of beaches, dunes, mudflats, salt marshes, and vernal pools. The estuary is home to 29 species of fish, 29 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 370 species of birds, and it shelters ten endangered species, including the San Diego fairy shrimp, the light-footed clapper rail, and the salt marsh bird’s beak.

Decades of inadequate infrastructure on the border city’s side have allowed industrial waste and untreated sewage to flow into the waterways that feed the river. The International Boundary and Water Commission reports that more than 100 billion gallons of untreated sewage, industrial waste, and urban runoff have spilled into the Tijuana Estuary and Pacific Ocean via the river and its tributaries over just the last five years.

A Public Health Crisis, Not Just a Beach Closure

A recent report from San Diego State University’s School of Public Health, commissioned by the Prebys Foundation at the request of Congressmember Scott Peters, found that the impact reaches far beyond beach closures. Toxic chemicals and microbes carried in untreated sewage, industrial waste, and runoff can also travel through air and soil, extending the health risk well past the water’s edge.

Lifeguards, U.S. Navy personnel, first responders, and border patrol agents face direct occupational exposure, while children, seniors, outdoor workers, and pregnant women in surrounding communities carry a disproportionate share of the risk. Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre has formed a task force with SDSU’s School of Public Health and the UC San Diego School of Medicine to press for county, state, and federal monitoring of the crisis.

Partnerships For The Goals

The Tijuana River Project is built on the idea that no single government or agency can solve a transboundary crisis alone. In the spirit of UN Sustainable Development Goal 17, it takes shared goals and shared partnerships — between U.S. and Mexican governments, researchers, Rotary clubs, and local communities — to bring lasting solutions within reach.

“This environmental catastrophe has hurt the region for many years, resulting in decades of adverse health consequences. We must approach it as a health and national security concern.” — Rep. Scott Peters