Imagine being invited to camp in a beauty spot, where the year-round weather is just perfect. You roll up in the rig, pick a spot for your RV, and step out to greet beautiful scenery. But your eyes aren’t your only senses—suddenly your nose goes on full alert. You can’t believe your nose—sewage! That’s the problem in sunny southern California. A San Diego sewage crisis is hitting RVers and other recreationists.
Camping shut down by San Diego sewage
Last winter, storms hit the popular Tijuana River Valley Regional Park Campground. But while storm damage is usually not too tough to repair, the park is still shut tight. It’s the San Diego sewage crisis. Park trails are closed to pedestrians and horse riders alike, as water, tainted with raw sewage, works its way over the trails.
What’s the source of the sewage? Sad to say, our next-door-neighbor, Mexico, is the source of the bad water. Untreated sewage from Mexico is making itself known in the U.S.
San Diego county officials say that the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park will reopen. When? As soon as a protective berm is repaired by the city. When the berm is fixed, the sewage will essentially be fenced off.
A statement from the county reads, “We are coordinating with the city of San Diego, they are repairing a berm damaged by the Jan. 22 unprecedented storm and impeded by ongoing TJ River flows. When that work is done, we can reopen.”
But that regional park isn’t the only public access that’s been affected by the sewage flows. Right next door is Border Field State Park. A popular day-use area for hikers and beach walkers, it’s been off-limits to the public since August of 2023. The park’s main road is flooded with water—water that contains raw sewage.
Sewage from Mexico—but leaks from U.S.
Who is to blame for the San Diego sewage mess? While the sewage itself originates just across the border in Tijuana, the actual release point of the pollutants lies in the United States. The South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, firmly positioned on U.S. soil, is presently overrun by sewage flows.
Also known as the International Wastewater Treatment Plant, the big facility was put in operation in 1997. It’s a joint operation between Mexico and the U.S., built in large part with U.S. dollars when the country determined that Tijuana’s close proximity to the U.S., and its inability to deal with its sewage, made it critical for the U.S. to step in to deal with the issue. On a typical day, the plant should process about 25 million gallons of raw sewage.
But the plant is in serious need of repairs, and the amount of sewage flowing in from Mexico far outpaces the ability of the plant to effectively process it. Recently, $400 million was pumped toward repair and expansion of the plant. Despite the cash infusion, it’s estimated it will take five years to complete the work.
Locals and visitors continue to hold their noses
As that time drags on, the San Diego sewage crisis will continue to flow. At least one campground will remain closed until something stops the flow. Whether or not the campground reopens, locals and visitors alike will continue to hold their noses. The smell, especially strong at night and during heat waves, is more than just stinky. The sewage stench is associated with headaches, nausea, and even nervous system issues.
And it’s getting on the nerves of government officials, too. Imperial Beach mayor Paloma Aguirre says that while she’s grateful that the $400 million federal funding is in place, it’s not going to work magic soon enough. The five-year plan, in her thinking, is just too much. “It is five years that my community cannot afford to continue to wait.” The mayor wants the federal government to declare a state of emergency. “This is exactly why we have been asking for the state of emergency from our President.”
Mayor Aguirre pointed to a financial disparity. “If this were happening in Carmel-by-the-Sea or in Marin County, we would be seeing a much different story.” The mayor is concerned more needs to be done. “That is the urgency I’m trying to communicate to everybody,” she said. “All of our leaders in Congress and at the state level, we all need to be rowing in the same direction and asking the White House for help.”
Rowing in the same direction? Right now, the water carrying that row boat is not something you want to be in contact with.
##RVT1179b
What!!!???? We’re just talking about refined meudo, tacos, chorizo, and other mundane things…..why all the concern? Our president getting involved??? What do they say about a cold day in………?
Refined???????? We should be talking to a Proctologist! They deal with this “crap” all the time. From a Plumber- I know my “crap”!!!!!!!!!
Yet another reason to avoid California, it stinks.
Milorganite shows one smart way to deal with sewage overload and get paid for it. As a child, my dad, a career employee at USDA, would take me with him every late winter to the sludge fields and fill up a couple of buckets to fertilize the flower gardens and trees. My mother would be upset with him for not using “nice clean chemicals”. But we had great blooms and healthy trees while neighbor’s up and down the block had ratty struggling plants. Jes saying…y’know
This problem has been going on for dozens of years, I’m exasperated by the total lack of commitment by the local, as well as the nationally elected officials. It is a totally political issue that no one seems to want to solve.
What happened to the $3 million grant that they used for a study on environmental impact a few years ago? It should have been used to fix the issue, not study it. Now recently, the CDC is going door to door and asking residents down by the border about the issue, smell, bacteria, etc. As Bill stated, going on for decades, nothing new.
Use to work nearby there, it’s been an ongoing issue for years. Watched truck after truck crossing to load up treated sewage to take back across the fence. Trash also piles up along the fence line east of the San Ysidro crossing to where trash trucks and workers clear it and return under the eye of border patrol agents.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Sounds awful! Poor San Diego County. 🙁 Have a great weekend and safe travels!