SAN DIEGO — While beaches will be packed this hot July Fourth weekend in San Diego County, some of our local waters remain closed to swimmers and surfers because of sewage contamination coming from Mexico.
Some of these waters in the South Bay have been off-limits to the public for more than two years now because of sewage contamination. While these areas are still a draw for locals and for tourists, especially during holiday weekends like this one, they say more needs to be done now to get these beaches back open.
"We used to boogie board and just play," said San Diegan Sandra Martinez, who has been coming to Silver Strand State Beach since she was a kid. "It was nice. This is a shame, it really is!"
Martinez is frustrated that, because of the cross-border contamination coming from Mexico, playing in the water is no longer an option.
"I just think something needs to be done," she told CBS 8.
She and her extended family spend a week every year at the RV park here on the Silver Strand in Coronado.
While Martinez has memories of going in the water, that's not the case for the younger generations.
"It's just a bummer because we all have kids, and they want to go in the water," said Chula Vista resident Angelic Belcher. "They don't know any better."
"We're like a big family who comes here to the beach and it sucks because we can't even go into the beach," added family member Tui Letuli.
There are warning signs up, citing the potential health hazards of the bacteria, although some still choose to dive in.
"Even the smell," added Martinez, "You know, you can smell it! When we came here we were like, did the dogs go poop? We were looking around and no, it was the smell from the water!"
Federal funding to get the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant back to full-scale operation is coming, according to Congressman Scott Peters (D-50th).
'We're going to have a contract to do that this summer, and it will be in he ground by the end of the year to fix that plant, and you're going to see major improvements in the next couple years," he told CBS 8.
The County has also formally reached out out to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to ask for its help in investigating the potential health impacts of this sewage contamination on local communities.
"Every day millions of gallons of untreated sewage washes ashore in my community," said State Senator Steve Padilla. "This is not just an environmental disaster: it is a public health crisis."
On the state level, a recent Senate Joint Resolution was passed, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-District 18), also urging the CDC to investigate this sewage crisis.
"The pollution threatens the very water that we drink and the air that we breathe," he added.
For more information on this Senate Joint Resolution, which is now heading to the State Assembly, click here.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego leaders call on lawmakers to pass legislation to fix cross-border sewage crisis