Children can’t swim in the ocean. Businesses can’t retain customers. Lifeguards have to wear special protective gear. And the Navy often relocates training for its elite SEALs force.

These are just some of the consequences of 1,000 consecutive days that the shoreline in California’s southernmost region has been closed because of sewage spilling over the U.S.-Mexico border from Tijuana.

The mayors of every city in San Diego County have pleaded with the federal government to remedy the decadeslong crisis. So have state legislators, the governor and members of Congress.

Still, the contamination continues – breaking records this year for the amount of polluted water reaching the Tijuana River Valley and the Pacific Ocean.

In the past few days, South County residents and elected officials have ramped up their demands for a quicker fix to the sewage crisis as the region hit an unsettling milestone Tuesday: 1,000 consecutive days without access to clean ocean water.

That’s the highest number of days restricting ocean access in South County shorelines in more than a decade, according to San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality data.

“1,000 days to me is breaking my heart,” said lifelong Imperial Beach resident Dana Maxwell, adding that she wakes up with headaches daily due to noxious rotten egg odors. “This is my home. This milestone also represents that we’re not being heard.”

Last week, she spearheaded a rally by the local pier where hundreds of residents chanted slogans like “Fix it now” and held handwritten signs that read, “Call the state of emergency.”

The Tijuana Slough, a once coveted surfing spot at the mouth of the Tijuana River, has been shuttered every day since December 2021. This December would mark one year of consecutive closures at the waters just off the Imperial Beach Pier – the city’s biggest tourist attraction.

Ominous yellow and red signs warning of “sewage/chemical contaminated water” are now fixtures at these beaches.

San Diego County issues these alerts when bacteria levels exceed state thresholds. According to beach monitoring data, water at the Tijuana Slough and the Imperial Beach Pier have not tested below those threshold this year.

People who work and live in these affected communities, which include Nestor, San Ysidro, Otay Mesa West and parts of Chula Vista, say they feel the brunt of the crisis more than ever.

It has forced nonprofits to end or shorten programming that is often free or affordable and conveniently located for residents, especially youths who have yet to visit the beach for the first time. YMCA Camp Surf, for example, has had to bus campers to Mission Beach, nearly 20 miles north of Imperial Beach.

Lifeguards in Imperial Beach and Coronado have had to adapt to worsening pollution by using leak-proof dry suits for ocean rescues and decontaminating in showers afterward. The sewage crisis has also affected recruitment. Earlier this year, officials said, about two dozen people applied to become Imperial Beach lifeguards, but when tryouts came around, no one showed up.

A county report has also hinted at the economic impacts beach closures have had on South County businesses. Establishments reported losing at least $100,000 in earnings in the last year, as well as having to lay off employees.

Home listings in Imperial Beach have also been at an all-time high and there’s a direct correlation between the increase in listings and worsening pollution, said Nicholas Alexander, realtor with Radiant Realty.

“Since 2010, there has been an average of about 15 listings,” he said. “But there are more than 80 listings in Imperial Beach alone right now. That’s a dramatic increase and our office consistently hears that people are moving specifically because of the (sewage) odors.”

All of those health, lifestyle and economic impacts, coupled with decades of politicians saying they are addressing the crisis, can take a toll on the mental health of South County residents, a majority Latino and low-income region, said Marvel Harris, an Imperial Beach resident and psychologist who is part of a local task force studying the effects of exposure to cross-border pollution.

“I think overall, 1,000 days of closures spells despair,” she said. “We’re a community that is really experiencing the effects of sanctuary betrayal. It’s a type of chronic stress and trauma that comes when people we believe will protect us – our elected leadership, people we pay to take care of us via infrastructure, health safety – don’t follow through and the natural reaction to that is depression.”

The California Legislature recently approved a resolution urging President Joe Biden and Congress to fully fund projects to fix pollution and declare a national emergency.

Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre renewed calls to Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to join state lawmakers in their plea for a national emergency declaration.

“Our communities feel abandoned by the Governor’s administration,” she said. “Local officials have been advocating for a comprehensive solution for decades, but we can no longer shoulder this burden alone. It’s time for the state of California to step up and support our demand for the White House to declare this a national emergency.”