{"id":169265,"date":"2026-02-08T13:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T13:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/169265\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T13:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T13:45:18","slug":"students-take-stop-sewage-message-to-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/169265\/","title":{"rendered":"Students take stop sewage message to Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When students from across South Bay boarded buses\u00a0and an airplane for Sacramento\u00a0in January, they weren\u2019t heading on a typical field trip.<\/p>\n

They were going to lobby lawmakers \u2014 armed with personal stories, policy briefs, and a message they believe can no longer be ignored: the Tijuana River sewage crisis is a regional public health emergency, and California must step in.<\/p>\n

The effort was driven by youth leaders connected through the Coronado High School \u201cStop the Sewage\u201d Club, aka STS, and Youth Circle, a coalition of South Bay students working alongside the Tijuana River Coalition,\u00a0all\u00a0supported by StopTheSewage.org, a nonprofit that has helped elevate student voices on the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students understood that this wasn\u2019t just a Coronado problem,\u201d said Laura Wilkinson Sinton, co-founder of StopTheSewage.org and a longtime community activist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Imperial Beach, it\u2019s Chula Vista, it\u2019s National City, San Diego \u2014 it\u2019s an entire region being deprived of safe beaches and dealing with real health impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students from the Coronado High School Stop The Sewage Club, which has grown to more than 80 members, reached out to peers throughout South Bay, including students from Chula Vista Community Charter School.<\/p>\n

Youth leaders Sean Wilbur and Anika Talavera helped organize the coalition, intentionally bringing together students from different cities to demonstrate that the crisis crosses jurisdictional lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are more powerful together. These kids wanted Sacramento to understand this isn\u2019t one city complaining \u2014 it\u2019s a region in a state of emergency,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For students who live closest to the affected waterways, the consequences are personal. According to Sinton, sewage pollution has led to recurring health issues, from respiratory problems to mental health impacts tied to the loss of outdoor recreation. Surf teams have dissolved. Junior Lifeguard programs operate without access to the ocean. Families with asthma, compromised immune systems, and young children face ongoing exposure to polluted air and water.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a way of life being taken from them,\u201d Sinton said. \u201cTheir playgrounds are closed. Their training programs don\u2019t function. And they\u2019re watching government after government fail to act with urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Sacramento, students focused their advocacy on SB 58, which would update air quality standards to better reflect public health risks, and AB 35, aimed at accelerating the release of already-approved funding for mitigation efforts. They broke into small groups, visited offices across daily, and delivered practiced 60-second personal stories \u2014 some describing ill grandparents, others mourning the loss of daily swims they once took for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese stories bring lawmakers to tears,\u201d Sinton said. \u201cThey make the consequences of inaction impossible to ignore.\u201d
While the students have pushed local, state, and federal agencies, they see Sacramento as critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government has proven unreliable,\u201d Sinton said. \u201cCalifornia is the fourth-largest economy in the world. It has the power \u2014 and the responsibility \u2014 to defend its residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

StopTheSewage.org has played a central role in organizing the effort, funding travel, coaching students in public policy, and teaching them that advocacy works. Many of the students are now registered or pre-registered voters, a point they emphasize in meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know they have agency,\u201d Sinton said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re going to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As several student leaders prepare to graduate, succession planning is already underway. Many are now considering careers in public policy.
\u201cThe kids are all right,\u201d Sinton said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re not going away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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