Beach-goers headed to Coronado Shores on Monday got a rude awakening when they learned that water just to the south had "bacteria levels [that] exceed health standards."
Cross-boundary sewage flows from the Tijuana River are again impacting water quality from the border, north to Imperial Beach, up the Silver Strand, all the way to Avenida Lunar, the dividing line between the Navy military beach to the south and the Shores to the north.
Folks in Coronado are being admonished to "[avoid] water contact in the closure area," according to San Diego County health officials. Closures were ordered Sunday for the "ocean shoreline from north of Carnation Ave to south of Avenida Lunar."
With the temperatures expected to near 80 degrees, the news is unwelcome especially in Imperial Beach, where, after a very brief window when people could get in the water, a closure has remained in effect since Aug. 2.
For decades, millions of gallons of untreated sewage have washed from Mexico across the border into San Diego, allowed by broken sewer plants in Mexico and the United States. The pollution has been found in ocean water samples for years and has led to the closure of South Bay beaches for more than 1,300 days in a row, with only a couple of days safe to swim.
Last week, a study was released that shows that people who live in San Diego's South Bay may be exposed to levels of toxic sewer gas -- as much as 70 times higher than state air-quality standards -- for hours at a time.
That's according to new research that confirms sewage from Mexico pollutes far more than the ocean off Imperial Beach and other South Bay communities. Hydrogen sulfide, which can cause headaches, nausea, respiratory problems and other symptoms, comes from the Tijuana River and can be found in alarming amounts in the air that many South Bay residents breathe.
There was good news in the study: Its authors said that the level of gases dropped dramatically on Sept. 10. They believe the activation of a sewage plant in Mexico led to the drop, because wastewater stopped flowing in the Tijuana River after that day.
And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had more good news on Thursday: Repairs to a U.S. plant had increased its ability to treat the Mexican sewage by about 10 million gallons.