Silver Strand Contamination Suspected from Tijuana Sewage Runoff

The Silver Strand shoreline was added Saturday to the water contact closure areas at the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge on suspicion that ocean currents could have brought sewage-contaminated runoff, county health officials said.

Sewage-contaminated runoff in the Tijuana River had been entering the Tijuana Estuary as a result of recent rainfall. Flows at the Tijuana River mouth were moving north, according to the Department of Environmental Health.

Observations indicated northward moving ocean currents caused county health officials to suspect contamination of the ocean water at Silver Strand,
the department said.

South County beaches from the U.S.-Mexico border to the south end of Seacoast Drive have been closed since March 17 due to sewage-contaminated flows from the Tijuana River. The closures included the beaches at Border Field State Park and the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge  shoreline. 

The Imperial Beach shoreline had been closed since April 10.

Signs warning of the contaminated water would remain in place until field measurements indicate the ocean water is safe for recreational use, officials said.

—City News Service