By: Katie Nelson

Center Editor

California has long been a proponent of healthy and safe drinking water. Given its vast water supply from its many lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater, ensuring the water is safe has always been a top priority. In fact, California became the first state to recognize  clean, safe, and affordable water as a human right twelve years ago. Yet more than 735,000 people are still drinking from water systems that fail to meet the state requirements, and California residents are tired of it. 

Nearly 400 water systems are impacted from a variety of contaminants, the main culprits including arsenic, nitrate, and a chemical known as 1,2,3-TCP, short for 1,2,3, Trichloropropane. These contaminants are linked to serious health problems, including cancer and negative effects on fetus development. Although most of the state does have safe and reliable systems, according to CalMatters, “about 600 [water systems] serving 1.6 million people are at risk of failure and more than 400 others serving another 1.6 million are deemed potentially at risk.” 

Additionally, the state government overlooks many at-risk communities due to their ruralness and small size, particularly ignoring low-income Latino farm communities. Tequita Jefferson, a longtime resident of Pixley, a town that has elevated levels of 1,2,3 TCP, said, “It scares me. All of it scares me. And then no one thinks about it. Here, we’re in a rural community, and people have a tendency to overlook us.” Many counties have asked for more to be done, but according to California Water Boards recent state analysis, ensuring reliable drinking water will cost around 16 billion dollars. Despite this, the water board project only has 2 billion dollars  available for grants in communities and 1.5 billion dollars for loans. 

As state regulators pursue long-term fixes, the law requires water suppliers to notify people if their water is substandard. Darrin Polhemus, a member on the State Water Resources Control Board, noted that part of the reason the issue has not improved more quickly is that “We’re seeing the dawn of a new age where treatment is required on almost all our groundwater sources, and these small communities are not prepared for what that means.” The increasing necessity of treating water is requiring more money to be poured into the purifying industry. Christina Velanzquez, another member of the Pixley community in San Joaquin Valley, guessed that she spends at least 30 dollars a month buying clean water and filters. She said, “That’s what I make my grandkids drink – I won’t let them drink water from the faucet. We shouldn’t have to buy water when we’re already paying for it.” 

Despite the failure of these water systems in these rural locations, anger over the lack of accountability has encouraged more discussion over the issue. Kyle Jones, the policy and legal director of the nonprofit Community Water Center, stated, “It is morally outrageous that we can’t provide the level of basic human rights that people need, and that it’s primarily low income communities of color who are facing these disparate impacts…While the state’s made a lot of good progress … more needs to be done.”