Portions of the Imperial Beach coastline reopening after nearly three years

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — After a nearly three-year closure, parts of the Imperial Beach coastline are reopening.

“Basically, our entire stretch of beach has been closed for 1,018 consecutive days,” said Paloma Aguirre, the mayor of Imperial Beach.

After yet another summer of water contact closures, parts of the coastline have reopened after the county deemed bacteria levels to be acceptable.

“The stretch of beach that has been reopened is the beach from south end of seacoast drive north,” Aguirre said.

After yet another disappointing summer season residents are finally getting their chance to enjoy everything this city has to offer.

“Very excited, I mean, it’s been three years,” said David Torres, a Chula Vista resident.

Now that the shoreline is open, residents say it’s bringing even more people to Imperial Beach which is great for local businesses.

“Right now, I see a little bit more people than last week,” said Luis Esquivel, another San Diego County resident. “It’s going to help the restaurants, the hotels, it just benefits everybody.”

Aguirre says the open beaches are likely temporary. It all comes down to environmental factors like ocean currents and wind direction.

“If the winds stay the way they are flowing, or blowing, north to south, it’s going to keep all of that pollution bay,” she said.

However, if those conditions change, that will be the end of open beaches.

The mayor says everything south of Seacoast Drive all the way to the border is still closed and will continue to be a problem as long as there is wastewater flowing out of the Tijuana River.

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