On the first weekend in June, Coronado beachgoers were greeted with a murky surprise – a brown and yellow foam-like substance washing up in the tide.
As it does best, the rumor mill ran rampant. Comment after comment on a local Facebook page claimed the discoloration was a direct result of the Tijuana sewage pollution crisis that has been plaguing the area for decades. Others took a different approach, deciding an algal bloom was at fault for the brown swell.
The county of San Diego – the entity responsible for testing these very waters daily to determine pathogen levels – confirmed our fears.
It’s sewage, and it’s coming ashore just as schools let out and throngs of tourists are hitting the beaches.
Standardly, the county reports 1,413 copies of Enterococcus bacteria per 100 ml. Results peaked at 201,814 copies on June 3 and 288,232 copies on June 4 near Silver Strand, according to samplings posted on the State Water Board website.
And, according to the county, its appearance in Coronado is linked to a large pipeline collapse on May 29 in Tijuana. The 10-mile-long pipe, known as the Parallel Gravity Line, is supposed to divert sewage flows away from the Tijuana River to the wastewater treatment plant in Mexico.
Instead, while the pipe was down, the sewage flowed through the river and into the Pacific. Environmental factors like wind and swell brought the substance to Coronado’s shoreline, according to a County communications officer.
That was the second time in the span of two weeks that the pipe collapsed.
It’s disheartening that Coronado is yet again dealing with consecutive days of beach closures. This time though, the problem is not invisible. High concentrations of toxic bacteria are apparent in the brown water and foam that fouls a once pristine shoreline.
