By Dan Plante / Yahoo KUSI / Wed, July 22, 2026
San Diego Bay was once considered among the most polluted waterways in America. That was then; this is now.
According to environmental watchdog San Diego Coastkeeper, the Big Bay is bouncing back in a big way.
“We did water quality testing for an entire year at different locations around San Diego Bay. We were all a little surprised at how clean it is. I would actually go swimming here. San Diego Bay is cleaner than Mission Bay right now,” said Phillip Musegaas of San Diego Coastkeeper.
It’s taken decades to reach this point. At one point in history, the bay was an open dumping ground for industrial waste.
Since then, tons of toxic sludge and solid waste have been dredged from the floor of the bay.
Along with new environmental standards across the board, the military and the shipbuilding industry have also made major strides toward a cleaner future.
“You know this report kinda surprised us. I would say that the Navy and the Port of San Diego have been doing a good job across the board,” said Musegaas.
As the stewards of San Diego Bay, the Port of San Diego has created aggressive new programs to stop pollution where it starts.
They’ve also created something called The Blue Economy Incubator.
So far, the Port has invested in and promoted 14 different new products, all designed to make our bay a little better by the day.
“One of those products is going in right now. They call it ‘ECOncrete’. It’s a special material that prevents erosion along the shoreline. But it’s also designed to create a new habitat for marine life that did not exist before,” said Annabelle Jackson with the Port of San Diego.
With the healthiest report card in the history of San Diego Bay, there is a sense of accomplishment for those involved.
But no one is popping champagne corks just yet.
For the Port and Environmental watchdogs, this is just the beginning of the evolution of San Diego Bay.
“If you do the right things, we can make a big difference,” said Musegaas. “This report shows that even big waterways can recover pretty nicely.”
