Signs Posted in IB Warning People to Stay Out of the Water

Health officials are advising people to stay out of the water at Imperial Beach due to sewage entering the ocean as a powerful storm descends on the area.

Sewage-contaminated runoff in the Tijuana River has entered the Tijuana Estuary, expanding the contaminated area at the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge shoreline north to include the Imperial Beach shoreline at Carnation Avenue, said Mark McPherson of the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health.

The ocean water in Imperial Beach was contaminated because of north-moving ocean currents, McPherson said. Signs warning of contaminated water will remain posted until measurements show that it’s safe to get back in the water.

City News Service contributed to this report.