Advocates face obstacles trying to connect San Diego youths to nature

Pollution entering the ocean from the Tijuana River has been a problem for decades, but beach closures have increased in recent years

Environmental educators say the closures are hurting kids and making it harder to connect the next generation to nature

Some municipal rules restrict nonprofits from bringing kids to visit cleaner beaches

Isaac Santos, 22, remembers growing up with family barbecues at his aunt’s house in Imperial Beach, south of San Diego, and swimming with his cousins. Sure, the ocean was dirty sometimes, but the beaches were open and accessible.

But since late 2021, swaths of the south San Diego coast have been closed every day — 1,345 days in a row and counting — because of sewage and industrial pollution flowing in from the Tijuana River.

Santos is now an instructor