Children can’t swim in the ocean. Businesses can’t retain customers. Lifeguards have to wear special protective gear. And the Navy often relocates training for its elite SEALs force. These are just some of the consequences of 1,000 consecutive days that the shoreline in California’s southernmost region has been closed because of sewage spilling over the U.S.-Mexico border from Tijuana. The mayors of every city in San Diego County have pleaded with the federal government to remedy the decadeslong crisis. So have state legislators, the governor and members of Congress. Still, the contamination continues – breaking records this year for the amount of polluted water reaching the Tijuana River Valley and the Pacific Ocean. 

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