A free Water Summit on the Tijuana River sewage crisis comes to the Coronado Community Center on Thursday, Oct. 1. State and county leaders will join environmental advocates and tribal representatives for a panel, a paddle-out and a nonprofit fair aimed at finding solutions to the cross-border pollution emergency.

The event opens the second annual San Diego Climate Week and features a 4 p.m. paddle-out for clean water in Glorietta Bay, where local paddlers and kayakers will join elected officials and activists on the water. Organizers noted parking near the bay will be limited.

A Make Waves Fair follows at 5 p.m. on the community center patio, where attendees can meet representatives from nonprofits focused on public health, binational advocacy and coastal preservation. Light food and beverages will be served.

The centerpiece is a 6 p.m. panel discussion in the Nautilus Room. Panelists include state Sen. Steve Padilla, San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, Serge Dedina of Wildcoast, Bobby Wallace, a Kumeyaay tribal leader, Phillip Musegaas of San Diego Coastkeeper and a representative from Mexico. Breakout sessions will follow, with small groups discussing practical solutions to the cross-border crisis.

Dedina, Wildcoast's executive director, said the summit is meant to build momentum. "We have got to remind people to continue to push," he told the Coronado Times on Sept. 27. "Unless we push forward, this is not going to get solved."

Coronado Councilmember Amy Steward called Coronado "the second-most-impacted city from the cross-border sewage emergency" in a statement and said she welcomed the summit's focus on the island.

A preliminary San Diego County study presented to the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 15 estimated the crisis costs the regional economy between $125.6 million and $503.5 million a year, as first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Unmitigated losses could reach $7.9 billion over 20 years, the study found.

On Sept. 1, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to launch the Tijuana River Capture and Cleanup Initiative, directing $1.8 million toward an 18-month engineering study for a treatment system separate from the federally operated South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (IBWTP), according to the Coronado Times. The board also approved $4 million to address air pollution at the Saturn Boulevard hot spot, where hydrogen sulfide levels have reached 16 times the state standard.

Aguirre, who as Imperial Beach mayor in March 2025 told inewsource that the region must "divert and treat the river," has continued pressing for action as a county supervisor. At the Sept. 15 board meeting, she urged state, federal and Mexican partners to act, calling the potential $7.9 billion in losses "disaster level numbers."

The Water Summit is organized by Emerald Keepers and San Diego Climate Week. Climate Week runs Oct. 1–8 and includes more than 150 events across five summits covering water, land, fire, air and people. Locally, a tour of the Tijuana River Estuary and a community cleanup at Tidelands Park are both scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3.

Registration is free but required at sdclimateweek.com.