More than a million Californians still lack access to reliable and safe drinking water. Arsenic, nitrates, coliform, hexavalent chromium, and other contaminants taint the water that runs through tens of thousands of taps in homes and schools throughout rural and inland California. Past and present pollution and naturally occurring contaminants has made water throughout much of Inland California unsafe to drink and expensive to treat. Drought, long-term changes to precipitation, and historic and ongoing overpumping of groundwater supplies combine to deplete water supplies and put both domestic wells and small water systems at risk of failure. Many rural low-income communities don’t have access to municipal wastewater service but rather rely on failing septic systems that threaten public health and impede investments in housing and other community amenities.

We advocate for investments to support basic infrastructure and affordable drinking water and wastewater rates along with policies to expand access to safe drinking water and wastewater service to more communities through system consolidation, reduce pollution of groundwater resources from agriculture, and equitably address over-pumping of vulnerable aquifers.