Three-eyed fish and two-headed turtles? The stench of this river spanning US-Mexico border is legendary

CALEXICO, Calif. - The river is so foul that rumors swirl about two-headed turtles and three-eyed fish. If you fall in, locals joke, you might sprout a third arm.

So go the stories about the New River, whose putrid green water runs like a primordial stew from Mexico's sprawling city of Mexicali through California's Imperial Valley.

The river, with skull-and-crossbones signs warning about the danger it poses, reminds Calexico resident Carlos Fernandez of a scene in "The Simpsons Movie" in which Homer Simpson disposes of pig feces by dumping them into a lake.

"That's the river," the 34-year-old said. "I'm surprised there's no glass bio-dome over us yet."

For decades, government agencies have grappled with what to do about the New River. And although it is cleaner than it once was, it is still such a cesspool of pollution that Imperial Valley residents believe it will never be restored.