Rains Turn Tijuana River Valley Into ‘Swamp of Sewage.’ but Wetlands May Need Those Flows.

Recent rains have poured into the Tijuana River, blasting Imperial Beach with more than a billion gallons of heavily polluted water since mid-February, according to federal estimates.

Pumps operated by Mexico that suck water out of the Tijuana River have been turned off for several weeks as rains overwhelmed the system’s capacity and debris clogged the intake. Officials said it should be cleaned out and running in about a week.