You play an important role in protecting San Diego’s water by being the eyes and ears for our local response agencies. By reporting pollution and water waste when you see it, you can help protect our creeks, lakes, lagoons, bays and coast – and the communities and wildlife that depend on them.
Coastkeeper is not an official response agency. But we can help make sure your observations get to the right place and that the appropriate action is taken. If you see someone dumping anything onto street surfaces, into creeks, lagoons or into storm drains in San Diego County, please report it immediately.
Water waste is also an important concern for the San Diego region. Flows from over-irrigation, sidewalk-washing, and poorly aimed sprinklers act as a carrier for pollution and contribute to water quality problems caused by polluted urban runoff. If you see an instance of water waste in the City of San Diego, it should be reported to the City of San Diego’s water waste hotline via email, app, or call. Whether it is a broken sprinkler head or watering for too long, the City and Coastkeeper want to hear about it so the owners/operators of the system can be made aware of and address the problem. In other areas, please contact the local municipal department phone number below and your local water supply agency.
You have five options:
- Call the San Diego County Regional Hotline at 888-846-0800. The County of San Diego will respond to all complaints in unincorporated areas and will refer complaints in the incorporated cities to the appropriate jurisdictions. During business hours, a staff person should answer your call. After hours, you can leave a message with details of your report.
- To speak to someone immediately, call the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) 800-852-7550. The SEMA hotline is staffed 24 hours a day.
- To report an oil spill, chemical release, or maritime security incident, call the US Coast Guard National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
- To report pollution or water waste in a specific area, please contact the appropriate department.
- City of San Diego – Stormwater drain pollution prevention hotline: (619) 235-1000 or (888) THINK-BLUE. You may also email them at [email protected]
- City of San Diego- Prevent Water Waste Hotline: (619) 533-5271
- City of Carlsbad– (760) 438-2722
- City of Chula Vista– (619) 397-6000
- City of Coronado– To report spills or discharges, contact Public Services at (619) 522-7380 during regular working hours or the Police Department at (619) 522-7350 between 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Monday – Friday and on weekends
- City of Del Mar– (858) 755-9313
- City of El Cajon– Storm Water Hotline: (619) 441-1653
- City of Encinitas– Clean Water Hotline: (Mon-Fri 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM) at (760) 633-2787 or after hours: (760) 633-2922
- City of Escondidio– (760) 839-4668
- City of Imperial Beach- (619) 424-4095
- City of La Mesa– Storm Water Pollution Prevention Hotline: (619) 667-1134
- City of Lemon Grove– Stormdrain Hotline: (619) 825-3827
- City of Miramar– (954) 704-4431
- City of National City– (619) 336-4389
- City of Oceanside– Urban Runoff Hotline: (760) 435-4500
- Port of San Diego
- Port Tidelands – (619) 686-6254
- Off-Port Tidelands – (888) 846-0800
- City of Poway– (858) 668-4700
- San Diego Bay– Harbor Police: (619) 686-6272
- City of Santee– (619) 258-4100 (x168)
- City of Solana Beach– Contact Dan King: (858) 720-2477
- City of Vista– Stormwater Hotline: (760) 726-1340 x 1686
- If you prefer, San Diego Coastkeeper can submit your observations and report for you. To do this, please fill out the form below and submit your report to our online system, and we will get it to the right agency. While we prefer you fill out the form for our records, you can also call our office 619-758-7743 x119 and leave a detailed message including your phone number.
We encourage you to fill out our online reporting form even if you have contacted one of the response agencies. This helps us track how well our local governments respond to pollution reports.