The "Clean Border Water Now" program is raising awareness to eliminate the sewage, trash, sediment and chemical waste that plagues beaches and waves in the border region and southern San Diego County in California.
According to Surfer Today, contamination problems are so severe and frequent that beaches around Imperial Beach were closed for around half of every year from 2015 to 2017.
The Surfrider Foundation urges American and Mexican authorities to address the threat posed by the flow of untreated sewage, industrial pollution, and trash into the Tijuana River Watershed and the Pacific Ocean, according to Surfer Today. The organization is advocating to fix and upgrade wastewater infrastructure, improve emergency response and increase water quality monitoring.
Surfrider volunteers have been collecting water samples at beaches and surf spots from Imperial Beach to Tourmaline Surf Park in Pacific Beach. According to Surfer Today, Surfrider filed a citizen suit against the International Boundary and Water Commission. The environmentalists require the agency to address their violations and the harm that has impacted the community.
"Here in the Laurel Canyon, you can see that many homes are not connected to city sewage infrastructure, and what's happening is the sewage is ending up in the canyon," said Anna Lucia Avedoy, a Tijuana clean water activist. "This is a serious public health situation because children are living in these areas. It smells very foul here, and they are constantly breathing in all of this fecal matter that is running through here. And all this water drains into the United States into Goat Canyon."
At Tijuana Beach, the ocean hides high water pollution levels.
"I've been sick from conjunctivitis, stomach infections, and ear infections. I've also heard that surfers and lifeguards have gotten sick for entering the water when it's been contaminated," Avedoy said.
A few miles north, at Imperial Beach, the pollution issues are also problematic, according to Surfer Today. And when it rains, surfers must stay out of the water.
"If I get in the water right now, I could get hepatitis, flesh-eating disease, staph infections and any sort of unknown viruses," said actress and activist Mia Maestro. "It's not about the border and building a wall between these two communities. It's about working together and finding a solution."