SDSU researchers find dangerous levels of pollution in Tijuana River

SAN DIEGO ( Border Report ) — Alex Grant and two fellow researchers from San Diego State University’s Water Innovation and Reuse Lab spent Monday morning in an area most people would avoid at all costs: the Tijuana River Valley.

Grant could be seen leaning over a railing on the Hollister Street Bridge above the river lowering a bucket to draw enough water to fill two plastic cylinders.

To the naked eye, the water appeared green and murky, but it also stunk.

“It smells like sewage,” she said.

Grant told Border Report she’s no stranger to the Tijuana River Valley, an area she visits frequently for research. On Monday, they were there to gather water samples from the area.

“We come out about once a month or so to take water quality tests — today we are just sampling from one location over the course of four hours to see how the waste water profile of the river changes over time,” she said.

The Tijuana River runs from Tijuana northbound across the border into San Diego.

“We actually have taken samples from 13 different locations throughout, from the border to where the river outlets into the Pacific Ocean.”

Grant said she and other researchers have published several findings about the water contamination in the Tijuana River Valley.

“Even during dry conditions like now, when we don’t have any rain, you have constant flow of water coming across the border through the Tijuana River, and much of that water is very polluted,” she said.

Grant says they often test to gauge what is in the water and how it might affect residents who live near the valley and along the coast where most of the sewage ends up.

“Our hope is that with this research we can help move the needle by providing decision makers with more information about the status of the water quality and also engage with the public in order to try and make some improvements here,” she said.

Grant said even when they are not around, they are still gathering information about the pollution in the valley

“We also have sensors deployed throughout the estuary that are getting real time measurements that we can look at all the time.”

As for the water samples gathered today, Grant and the others will take them back to their lab for more testing.

“We’re looking for water quality parameters such as bacteria like E. coli, enterococcus, total dissolve nitrogen and dissolve organic carbons, all of these things that help us determine how clean or how polluted the water here is,” Grant said.

Grant says their tests show the water is extremely polluted and a danger to residents in the area.

“The water quality measurements we’re looking at are very close to that of raw sewage.”

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