– Hundreds Of Failing Water Systems In California Need Funding For New Infrastructure:
Nearly 400 public water systems in California have failed to meet recommended safety standards for drinking water, according to a report last month from the State Water Resources Control Board, but a new climate bond measure recently joined the state’s November ballot may help.
Some 913,000 Californians, approximately 2 percent of the state’s population, are potentially affected by 385 failing public water systems according to the report.
Fifty-six of those systems “serve disadvantaged communities and 67 percent serve majority communities of color.”
The annual report identifies California drinking water challenges, part of an effort to improve access to safe drinking water started by former Gov. Jerry Brown. He signed Assembly Bill 685 into law in 2012, establishing that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for cooking consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.”
The water board defines a failing water system as one that does not provide “an adequate and reliable supply of drinking water which is at all times pure, wholesome, and potable.”
The report provided an example of two water systems where they found both exceeded the maximum contaminant level for 1,2,3-trichloropropane, a man-made carcinogenic chemical sometimes found in hazardous wastes.
Failing water system areas tend to have a “higher percentage of households in poverty” and are mostly larger households, according to the report.
The number of failing systems has increased over the past two years. A 2022 report from the water board found that 347 such systems in California were failing, affecting over 846,000 people.
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