Water-poor Valley communities have rare chance to get their broken systems fixed

As California plunges into another “historic” drought, people across the state are worried about water shortages. But the last drought never really ended for some Californians, like residents of East Porterville that still have emergency water storage tanks in their front yards.

With the state’s current financial surplus, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fund drought preparedness and water safety in communities that have lived for decades with shallow and contaminated drinking water wells, inadequate water treatment, and other infrastructure failures that threaten their health and well-being.

We are encouraged to see our state leaders recognizing the urgency of California’s long-standing water challenges. Gov. Newsom included $1.3 billion in his proposed budget for water infrastructure and drought resilience projects in communities across the state. The Senate and Assembly are also proposing billions in funding for water, though it remains to be seen how much will go to drinking water and wastewater needs.

While the state has made some important progress to expand safe water access in recent years, there are still hundreds of communities where families are living with toxic taps and worrying about wells running dry.

In Tombstone Territory, we are close to beginning a project that would extend safe water from the City of Sanger to replace contaminated and dry wells. This consolidation project needs to be affordable and move faster to ensure no more residents struggle during the current and future droughts. We have been asking for years for clean water and urge decision makers to listen and take action. In Porterville, we know all too well how critical these projects are.

We are not alone in struggling with unsafe or unreliable tap water. Residents in East Orosi have lived for a decade with nitrate-contaminated groundwater and are pushing for connections to the water system in nearby Orosi. People reliant on polluted wells north of Moss Landing are still seeking long-term drinking water solutions, as are many residents of West Goshen, who still depend on shallow wells with a dangerous risk of going dry.

For decades, California has underinvested in our drinking water systems, and people in communities like ours are paying the price. The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund passed in 2019 was a downpayment towards a more just drinking water future — but it was never meant to cover the billions needed to build 21st century drinking water systems for all, or provide true drought resilience in this era of climate change.

The state recently released a report that concluded we need $4.5 billion in the next five years just to address drinking water systems that are already failing or at high risk of failure.

The drinking water funding proposed for this year’s budget will allow both urban and rural places like East Orosi, West Goshen, Cantua Creek/El Porvenir and unincorporated Monterey County to start on shovel-ready projects such as upgrading outdated water treatment plants, and connecting schools and homes reliant on contaminated (and shrinking!) groundwater supplies to safe and reliable water sources.

With gratitude, and with the urgency that comes from living without safe water, we commend the leadership of Gov. Newsom and numerous members of the Senate and Assembly working to address our state’s water divide by investing in clean water and climate preparedness.

Now is the time to take this next step! In this time of budget surplus, let’s make a transformative investment in water to create a California that can finally provide safe and resilient water for all.

This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 12:25 PM.