HIGHLIGHTS

Healthy & Safe Communities

San Diego County is home for all of us. And we work every day to help make sure our communities are healthy and safe. Whether it’s protecting the public health, or building and maintaining the roads, parks, libraries and walkways, we strive to make our home a great place to live, work and play.

Acting to Make Us Healthier, Safer

No issue drew more attention in San Diego County over the past year than the decades-long Tijuana River Valley Border Sewage Crisis. As we and other, local and state officials continue to ask the federal government to intervene with Mexico to keep sewage from flowing into U.S. waters, the County took on the problem head-on.

In October 2024, the County Health and Human Services Agency, working with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), personally hit the streets to survey people living near the Tijuana River Valley about sewage pollution and its effect on their health and well-being. The County and CDC ultimately conducted two health surveys of people living in and working in the most impacted parts of the South Bay to help determine what actions the County could take with the state and federal government in the future.

The first survey — the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response — assessed the impact of the sewage crisis by visiting people in their homes in Imperial Beach, San Ysidro and Nestor.

The second survey — the Assessment of Chemical Exposures — was for people who worked, lived or visited the affected areas and asked about physical and mental health effects. Both reported that more than two-thirds of the people surveyed believed the area was unsafe and their health had declined; and roughly 80% said their quality of life was hurt and they had made lifestyle changes to protect themselves.

These surveys underscored the importance of the County’s continued work on resolving the crisis.

In October 2024, the County broke ground on a new animal shelter in Santee. The shelter will house animals looking for homes and give people looking for pets in south and southeast county a happy place to find them. It will also include a small-animal hospital and eventually serve as a fire evacuation site that can take in and care for animals during disasters. The shelter is scheduled to open next summer.

County of San Diego - Government

Applications are open for a cost-free summer camp for local high school students who want to learn more about public health.

Top Comment

Donald Krupp
Great idea! 👍

In January 2025, the County and community members broke ground on a project to revitalize the Mira Mesa Epicentre as a County-operated community center and recreation center for teens. Designed with community input, the new center will include a multifunctional pickleball and basketball court, community garden, open lawn area, rentable community space, music room, game room, practice kitchen, and flexible study and work areas. The project will make the area safer and promote health and well-being through programs that will include mentoring, career counseling, performing and visual art, gardening, cooking and recreational classes.

In February 2025, the County broke ground on the new Casa de Oro Library that will double the size of the existing library to meet the needs of the growing Spring Valley community. When completed, the new library will include a community room; public computers; laptops that can be checked out; a teen area with study rooms; a children’s area with early literacy play equipment; patio space and a Friends of the Library bookstore.

“Sam in the Casa de Oro library has scheduled time each week to work with tech-challenged patrons! He was so patient and kind and so knowledgeable. I am old and so need this support - thank you.”

- Joy R.

Also in February, the County and Bonsall community broke ground on the first phase of the Bonsall Community Park that will transform an old golf course into more than 24 acres of recreational space and fun. Phase one will include picnic tables, multi-use sport and soccer fields, restrooms, and sidewalk and intersection improvements to the road in front of the park Camino Del Rey.

In May 2025, the County cut the ribbon on its new, state-of-the-art County Public Health Laboratory. The two-story, 52,000-square-foot laboratory at the County Operations Center in Kearny Mesa is three times larger than the cramped and outdated old lab. The new lab creates space for nearly 90 employees and contractors who can test for infectious diseases like COVID-19; Respiratory Syncytial Virus, known as RSV; influenza; and other diseases.

The County also opened a much-anticipated outdoor archery range at Kumeyaay Valley Park in Lakeside in May. The park became the first archery range in East County and gives beginner and competitive-level archers a convenient place to gather and hone their skills.