By Tammy Murga / kpbs / Oct. 2, 2026
A bright yellow circle slowly formed in the water at Glorietta Bay Park in Coronado on Thursday afternoon.
They were surfers, clean water advocates and community members on surfboards, paddleboards and kayaks. Except they weren’t wearing wetsuits. They donned hazmat suits.
“The hazmat suit is a visual cue that we’re in a crisis,” said Corey Cleary-Stoner, one of the community members. “The most essential natural resource is under attack, and it’s under attack by us.”
He was referring to what’s been happening for years on the other side of the San Diego Bay, about eight miles south of the park: beaches closed for swimming because of sewage contamination that makes its way from Tijuana.
The pollution has forced lifeguards to adapt by limiting their time in the water and using mobile showers attached to their vehicles; children in local summer camps are bussed to beaches outside of their communities, and residents have become sick from exposure to the sewage contamination.
Dozens of participants in their protective gear wanted to bring attention to all of that. They called for urgent action to end the decades-long pollution, and also voiced concerns about oil spills from offshore drilling if allowed.
The paddle out marked the start of the second annual San Diego Climate Week. It runs through Oct. 8.
“We are opening Climate Week in San Diego fashion — in the ocean that we love and vow to defend,” Meg Ferrigno, the event’s co-chair, said in a statement. “The Tijuana River is considered the most endangered river in the world. We must do something now for the waters and all life; these rivers must be offered rights to survive.”
Thursday’s event comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation addressing Tijuana River-related pollution and offshore drilling.
One of the bills, introduced by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, directs Cal/OSHA to develop workplace standards for minimizing exposure to cross-border pollution, protections which would include lifeguards and park rangers.
State Sen. Steve Padilla’s, D-San Diego, SB 58 directs the state Air Resources Board to update California’s threshold for hydrogen sulfide, a byproduct of untreated wastewater in the Tijuana River. The board established the standard in 1969 and last reviewed it in 1984. Supporters argued the standard was developed to control odor nuisance and not to protect against getting sick.
And Assembly Bill 1448, authored by State Asm. Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara, prevents state oil and gas infrastructure from supporting new federal offshore-related leases.
Ferrigno said there are plenty of events to attend at this year’s Climate Week. More than 200 are taking place across the county, including beach cleanups, a science-based card game, seaweed tasting, yoga on a farm, and several summits on fire, air and land.
The events are also an opportunity for the public to learn from each other as they navigate escalating effects of climate change, said Ferrigno.
“We have people here that have been impacted by floods,” she said. “We have people here impacted by fire. We have people here that can’t breathe their own air inside of their homes. And so we want to hear those issues and get them on the mic so we can understand and do something about it.”
Walt Kelly got it right in his famous POGO cartoon posting: “We have met the enemy and he is us” https://comics.ha.com/itm/memorabilia/comic-related/walt-kelly-we-have-met-the-enemy-and-he-is-us-poster-1970-/a/18094-14478.s.
The Bay and coastline is polluted because we have overdeveloped a coastal desert. Tourism is worst single industry polluter with its 25 million jet aircraft visitors a year. Folks have got to stop taking those vanity flights to visit exotic places or just to visit Mom or an alumni football match.
We must clearly focus on the fact that the Tijuana River begins in San Diego county and is overburdened by USA development South of the fictional border line. A great first step would be to redefine our “REGION ” as the “Tijuana/San Diego Region”. Start thinking regionally rather than Mexican problem.
As far as Offshore Drilling the San Diego City Charter prohibited that in 1986 “Section 2.1: Prohibition on Construction, Operation or Maintenance of Facilities Related to Offshore Drilling
Neither the City Council nor any officer or employee of the City shall take any action, or permit any action to be taken, which directly or indirectly authorizes or permits the construction, operation or maintenance of any pipeline within the City for the transmission of any crude oil or natural gas taken or removed from any offshore crude oil or natural gas drilling or pumping operations within 100 nautical miles of the coastline of the County of San Diego; nor shall the City Council or any officer or employee of the City take any action, or permit any action to be taken, which directly or indirectly authorizes or permits the construction, operation or maintenance of any commercial or industrial facility within the City, including but not necessarily limited to crude oil or natural gas storage facilities, which operated directly or indirectly in support of any offshore crude oil or natural gas drilling or pumping operations within 100 nautical miles of the coastline of the County of San Diego.
(Addition voted 11-4-1986; effective 12-8-1986.)
Seems all the new to the job politicians call the press and take them to the Border and the State, City politicians swear and promise to get something done. But that’s been their claim to fame for years and years and it’s still not done.
Last thing I read about the raw sewage and metals in the river was CA was going to do something about it to the tune of millions and millions of dollars for the tax payer to pay. WHY should CA pay for a recycle project? It’s not our problem. But if MX wants it to be the CA tax payers problem, then CA should create a diversionary canal to divert it back on MX soil so they can keep their own **** problem.