Clean Coast Collaborative

The Clean Coast Collaborative (CCC) engages youth in San Diego’s South Bay to be vocal advocates of the region’s southernmost and border-adjacent coastal region, particularly Imperial Beach, as it experiences a health crisis stemming from water pollution.

The youth-led coalition raises awareness about the ongoing transborder water pollution crisis impacting community members’ physical, mental, and economic health. Due to the millions of gallons of raw sewage flowing from the Mexico side of the Tijuana River into the Pacific Ocean, Imperial Beach has experienced year-round closures as well as long-term respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses attributed to hydrogen sulfide, a common byproduct of raw sewage. The region is home to a majority Latine population, thus underscoring health disparities and the need to raise collective voices as stewards of a clean coast and healthy South Bay.

The CCC originated from a resident leadership academy (RLA) that provided essential confidence-building tools and advocacy skills to make positive changes where they live. Upon completion of the RLA, youth participants selected the Tijuana River sewage problem as the focus of their efforts, given that they all had in some way been impacted.

Since its inception, the CCC has hosted beach cleanups, employed media advocacy to highlight the issue, traveled to Sacramento to meet with lawmakers, implemented a GIS-enabled survey to collect perception and field data, and hosted a Photovoice workshop with Outside the Lens artists to use photography as an instrument to showcase the impact of the environmental justice problem.

The CCC is an exemplary case study in how the power of youth voices through media advocacy, community organizing, policy and systems change, data collection through GIS, and using art as a medium for effective advocacy can uplift the community for generations to come.