The entire Coronado shoreline remains closed after a sewage pipeline in Mexico collapsed for a second time in May. The following month, the California Coastal Commission approved a permit for the County of San Diego to move forward with a project to reduce emissions of hydrogen sulfide at the Saturn Boulevard crossing of the Tijuana River.
Addressing the ongoing sewage pollution crisis that impacts communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border continues while Coronado deals with consecutive beach closures after a major sewage pipeline in Tijuana collapsed on May 29.
In a post on X, The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) said the rupture was the second one in the span of two weeks for a 10-mile line that is undergoing rehabilitation.
The commission reported the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP) was treating beyond its capacity of 35 million gallons a day (MGD) and up to 60 MGD of untreated flows during the pipeline collapse.
By June 4, the federal agency reported completion of repairs to the Tijuana Parallel Gravity Line, but with the potential of odors persisting.
That weekend, beachgoers in Coronado witnessed brown foam in the waters along the Coronado beach shoreline.
City staff could not explain the discoloration and directed water quality questions to the county.
Donna Durckel, a county communications officer, said the water discoloration is not normal.
“The water is closed if there is sewage in the water,” said Durckel.
Pipeline failures
San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality’s Beach and Bay Water Quality Monitoring Program conducts daily water testing and posts advisories, warnings, and closures when there is contamination.
Durckel said water contact closures in south county are issued when sewage contaminated flows from the Tijuana River or other transboundary sources enter the United States and negatively impact ocean water quality.
According to Durckel the Tijuana Slough shoreline is frequently impacted and ocean conditions can transport contaminated water northward, resulting in closures at Imperial Beach, Silver Strand, and Coronado beaches.
Durckel said when a pipeline leak occurred around May 14, swells came from the west.
The Coronado shoreline wasn’t closed, but rather was placed in and out of advisory status.
The much larger collapse of the pipeline on May 29 was different.
Noting a longer repair time with pumps being shut off, Durckel said the sewage flowed through the Tijuana River to the Pacific, where wind and swell conditions carried wastewater to the Coronado shoreline.
“We issued a water contact closure on June 2 due to known sewage in the water,” said Durckel.
These closures remain as of 5 p.m. on June 11, according to the county’s website (http://www.sdbeachinfo.com/).
The county tests for Enterococcus bacteria with a standard of 1,413 copies per 100 ml.
Samplings posted on the State Water Board website show Coronado beach results peaked at 201,814 copies on June 3 at Avenida Lunar and 288, 232 copies on June 4 at Silver Strand Guard Shack.
Ongoing crisis efforts
The State Water Board’s Proposition 4 U.S. Mexico Border Grant Program, with $46.1 million available for projects addressing water quality problems in cross border rivers and coastal waters, is accepting applications through 5 p.m. on Aug. 31.
Last month the county began its Tijuana River Sewage Crisis Economic Impact Study, focused specifically on understanding the economic consequences of the crisis.
The county invites residents, workers, business owners, visitors, community organizations, and others who have been affected by the sewage crisis to participate. The county says surveys vary and will remain open for at least four weeks with findings published this fall.
The county is also partnering with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on a yearlong study to help identify and understand chemicals in the air resulting from untreated wastewater flows.
The county said it will coordinate with UCSD and San Diego State University School of Public Health to share findings with the community.
IBWC Principal Engineer Ramon Macias told the San Diego Water Board on June 10 rehabilitation of the Parallel Gravity Line, which experienced ruptures in May, is estimated to be completed in August.
“It seems like you’re really trying and we greatly appreciate that,” Betty H. Olson, board member and vice chair, told IBWC representatives. “But Imperial Beach and other beaches stay closed, which affects the community economically, and produces innumerable hardships, let alone the intermittent odors, which may have health effects that come along with it.”
That same day the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved the county’s request to extend two culvert pipes to direct Tijuana River flows beneath Saturn Boulevard intended to reduce hydrogen sulfide gas that becomes airborne.
“The situation remains quite dire, the beach remains closed, no timeline for reopening,” Cassidy Teufel, deputy director for the Energy, Ocean Resources and Federal Consistency Division, told the commission. “As we move into the summer season with swell action coming from the southern hemisphere and current moving from south to north, it’s expected that, unfortunately, the situation, as we saw last summer, to kind of expand outside of that Imperial Beach area up towards Coronado.”
Teufel, who described the situation as devastating, said there’s extensive water quality monitoring and public notification.
“It’s gonna be a lot of work to get to where we need to go to get those beaches open again,” said Caryl Hart, commissioner and vice chair.
