FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: 6/04/2026
Media Contact:
Melanie Croce
Development Director
[email protected]
From Classrooms to Courtrooms, San Diego’s clean water watchdogs made an impact in 2025.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – San Diego Coastkeeper (Coastkeeper) has released its 2025 Annual Report, reflecting a year of significant achievements in environmental advocacy, legal enforcement, and community-driven science. Across five core programs, the report captures Coastkeeper’s key clean water campaigns, community partnerships, and enduring commitment to protecting and restoring swimmable, drinkable, fishable waters throughout San Diego County.
“2025 marks another year of clean water successes, growing community partnerships and quick action to address new challenges to our shared waterways and communities,” said Executive Director Phillip Musegaas. “Our small but mighty staff continue to do incredible, impactful work despite growing challenges, with support from our diverse base of funders and supporters.”
Report highlights
Coastkeeper’s Watershed Watch community science program continued monitoring water quality across five San Diego waterways — Mission Bay, San Diego River, San Diego Bay, Chollas Creek, and the Tijuana River — with 127 newly trained volunteers and staff collecting 8,770 water quality measurements throughout the year. The annual report breaks down key findings to help inform policy, support increased investment in stormwater infrastructure, and improve clean water protections and access.
Coastkeeper’s legal team notched key victories in 2025, initiating nine new Clean Water Act lawsuits and settling 10. Highlights include a lawsuit targeting SeaWorld’s fireworks discharges into Mission Bay, a case addressing chronic micro-plastic “nurdle” spills by BNSF Railway along the San Diego coast, and continued litigation against the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission over the Tijuana River sewage crisis — efforts that helped drive three major infrastructure agreements in 2025. Through settlements, Coastkeeper directed $67,000 to local environmental groups to conduct watershed restoration projects across the county.
Additionally, Coastkeeper brought watershed science to hundreds of K-12 students, helped activate volunteers through beach cleanups and outreach events across the county, and testified at dozens of public meetings to advocate for strong, equitable, and science-backed clean water policy.
Marking its 30th anniversary, Coastkeeper uses the report to reflect on three decades of collective progress, including a cleaner San Diego Bay, dramatic reductions in sewer spills, and the establishment of Marine Protected Areas, while outlining its vision for protecting San Diego’s watersheds and coastal ecosystems in the year ahead.
About Coastkeeper
Founded in 1995, San Diego Coastkeeper safeguards our region’s inland and coastal waters through a strategic blend of community science, education, grassroots outreach, policy advocacy, and legal enforcement of environmental laws. This approach allows us to effectively tackle the most pressing water issues facing our region. For more information, visit sdcoastkeeper.org.