Patches of brown, green, bubbling water have been washing ashore at Coronado Beach, catching the attention of beachgoers and raising questions about the source.Water samples taken at Dog Beach came back below the threshold for an advisory, according to Coronado Lifeguard Captain Sean Carey, who said he has been in contact with the county's Department of Environmental Health and Quality.Carey said the county has reassured him the discolored water is the result of harmless algae blooms potentially triggered by higher-than-average water temperatures.However, just a mile and a half south, at Avenida Lunar, an advisory is in effect because bacteria levels are exceeding health standards:Coronado Lifeguard Captain Sean Carey wrote ABC 10News:If you look closely, you will see that the location of the advisory is Avenida Lunar, which is almost 2 miles south of dog beach. We can rule out sewage for a few reasons. Samples were taken and tested at dog beach yesterday, just like they are every day, and they came back below the threshold for an advisory.
Dog beach is approximately 10 miles from the TJ River mouth. The river flows which often pollute the ocean are diluted and diffused in the ocean water and would not appear as these small patches of discolored water, especially after traveling 10 miles. These patches of discolored water have been present on and off for several weeks despite the fluctuations in TJ River pollution.It is recommended that everyone follow the guidance of the SD County DEHQ water quality monitoring program.
They are subject matter experts, and they sample the waters daily at multiple points and those samples are tested at a State certified lab. As I mentioned, I have been in communication with the experts at the SD County DEHQ and they have assured me, multiple times, that these are algae blooms.The messaging that is on our Safe Beach Day website is intended for the public to be informed of the facts so they can choose which beach to visit. I would refer to that messaging since the content of it comes straight from our conversations with DEHQ.Not everyone accepts the algae explanation.Leon Benham, president of Citizens for Coastal Conservancy, a nonprofit he founded in 2018 to fight the Tijuana sewage crisis, said the pattern of the discoloration doesn't match what an algae bloom would look like."If this was an algae bloom, then you would have …
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