Regional Park Campground Opening Should Be Postponed: IB Mayor Says

SAN DIEGO, CA — Though the Tijuana River Valley Recreational Campground is slated to reopen to the public on April 1, San Diego Supervisory Candidate and current Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre has called on the county government to delay that opening date, citing health concerns from the adjacent river's sewage crisis.

"The county should be focused on cleaning up the sewage, not putting a campground in it," Aguirre said. "I've heard from too many residents and workers getting sick — headaches, nausea, respiratory illness.

The Tijuana River Valley Regional Park Campground sits in the southwest portion of the park, north of Monument Road. When it's open, it offers low-cost camping accommodations and public restrooms.

It opened in 2021 and closed in January 2024 after that month's high flooding. It contains 51 campsites, 10 yurts, community gardens, ball fields and connects to a 22-mile trail system. The project cost a total of $12 million.

Aguirre called on the county to help fund additional infrastructure upgrades, sewage clean-ups and push the federal government to declare a state of emergency on the sewage crisis.

"Reopening this campground while the air and water remain compromised is dangerous to rangers and campers and a waste of our tax dollars. We need the county to do its part to fix the sewage crisis, not pretend like it doesn't exist."

Aguirre, a San Diego County supervisorial candidate for the April 8 special election, spoke on behalf of the San Diego County Park Rangers union. That union on Thursday filed a formal cease-and-desist with the county, calling for the delay of the scheduled April 1 reopening date.

The county says soil-testing data show acceptable levels of pollutants, while the rangers say more testing is needed.

Crystal Irving, president of the SEIU 221, county workers' union, spoke on the issues of reopening regarding the safety of the people who work here.

According to a statement from San Diego Parks, county officials are working with partner agencies to assess ongoing concerns of sewage and pollution in the TIjuana River Valley and surrounding communities.

To keep the public informed, the County created a South Region Health Concerns webpage to provide
up-to-date comprehensive information on public health data, beach water quality monitoring, air
quality, environmental odors, and general information for members of the public or schools in the area.

According to San Diego.Gov's Beach and Bay Water Quality Program, the ocean shoreline from the U.S. to the Mexico Border has exceeded health standards since Dec. 8, 2021.

"This is a safety issue —plain and simple," Irving said. "County workers were never consulted about the risks of returning to the site, and the county is ignoring the sewage crisis's health impacts.
"There are serious concerns about air quality, illness and lack of testing. Our members love serving the public and the outdoors, but we can't responsibly welcome anyone to this campground until the sewage contamination is fixed."

Tijuana River Valley Regional Park Campground is at 1942 Monument Road, San Diego.

Phone: 619-205-1680, Reservations Center: (858) 565-3600, (877) 565-3600 Camping hours: 24 hours/day, 7 days per week.