The Tijuana River Valley is a rural community in the southern section of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California. It neighbors Imperial Beach to the north and west, Egger Highlands and Nestor to the north, San Ysidro to the east, and the U.S.-Mexico border to the south. Major thoroughfares include Hollister Street, Monument Road, and Dairy Mart Road.

History

The valley was home to the Kumeyaay peoples, who established the village of Melijo near Smuggler's Gulch. The area became part of

Rancho Melijo Rancho Melijo, or Milijo, named after a local Kumeyaay village. It was later called Rancho La Punta for the location of the Arguello family ranch house, on a point of hills overlooking the south end of San Diego Bay, north of the Otay River and e ...

as part of a Mexican land grant to Santiago E. Argüello. The Tijuana River Valley, along with other portions of South San Diego, was annexed from

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

in 1957.

Facilities and landmarks

The community contains 71.5 miles of dirt roads and paths. A number of horse stables are located in the valley. The valley is home to the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park, and is near

Border Field State Park Border Field State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing beach and coastal habitat on the Mexico–United States border. The park is within the city limits of Imperial Beach in San Diego County, next to the suburb of Pla ...

and the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, both located in Imperial Beach.

Flooding

The Tijuana River Valley community is at risk of flooding from the Tijuana River. The

Tijuana River , name_etymology = , image = Presa Tij 1.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Dam on the Tijuana River in Mexico. , map = Tijuana River Basin.svg , map_size = 250 , map_caption ...

is considerably polluted with trash, sewage, and other pollutants that threaten the valley community, and the community's environmental resources whenever it floods. Flooding is contained for the most part during dry periods. Yet when it rains the risk of floods and the associated pollution are a significant problem for the Tijuana River Valley. In addition to damage to the Valley's environmental and recreational resources, the pollution present in the floodwaters can spread diseases. Area beaches had almost 1,600 closed days because of this pollution between 2007 and 2017, far more than beaches North of the Valley.

References

{{Coord, 32, 33, 5, N, 117, 5, 24, W, type:adm3rd_dim:5000, display=title Neighborhoods in San Diego Valleys of San Diego County, California South Bay (San Diego County)