San Diego’s beach tops list of most polluted in the United States

California has three of the most polluted beaches in the country. This negative mark is a stain on the state that made an emblem out of the sea and surfing — and one of its great tourist attractions. The latest Surfrider Foundation’s Clean Water Report highlights the 10 beaches in the United States and Puerto Rico with the highest levels of toxicity, those that exceed state health standards and put public health at risk.

The environmental group points out in the study that 57 labs processed 9,538 water samples collected from 567 distinct sampling sites. Of these, 362 returned high bacteria rates. An interesting fact is that Surfrider Foundation volunteers monitor potential sources of pollution, such as stormwater outlets, rivers and creeks that discharge onto the beach. Imperial Beach in San Diego, California, is one of two in which all water samples collected registered results that exceeded state health standards.

“Every day, millions of gallons of contaminated water carrying stormwater runoff, raw sewage, harmful chemicals, and trash traverse the U.S./Mexico border through the Tijuana River Watershed and flow out into the Pacific Ocean in Imperial Beach,” highlights the report. Sharing the top spot in the ranking is Nāwiliwili Stream at Kalapakī Bay in Kauai (Hawaii).

The other two California beaches that show up in the study due to their high pollution rates are Linda Mar Beach, in Pacifica, where 54% of samples showed a high bacteria rate, and San Luis Creek Mouth, in San Luis Obispo, with 35%. Runoff, or the flow of water not absorbed by the surface that carries chemicals and other pollutants from the streets to the coast, is the cause of the largest number of beach closures in the United States. The foundation revealed that the majority of water samples that did not comply with health standards were collected in fresh water sources such as rivers, creeks and marshes, which are influenced by stormwater runoff.

The fight against these levels of pollution, with negative effects on public health, tourism and the local economy, has led to the approval of increased funding for water treatment in the area, the report indicates. The Tijuana River Valley International Wastewater Treatment Plant has long been outdated when it comes to processing most of the water flowing from Mexico. As part of the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, $300 million was designated to help wastewater mitigation projects in the valley, to which are added another $131 million approved by Congress, and $156 million in additional contributions provided by the federal government.

What are the most polluted beaches in the United States?

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