You’d think that here in California, in the year 2011, all of us could take for granted that the water that comes out of our taps is safe to drink.
You’d think that… and you’d be wrong. Unfortunately, too many Californians in both rural and urban areas don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. In many communities, the sole water supply is contaminated.
Thanks to runoff from industrial or agricultural polluters, some Californians are forced to buy bottled water because their local water is too toxic to consume. Many of the communities that they live in can’t afford to clean up the toxic chemicals in their water. Communities unable to afford treatment, and families unable to afford expensive bottled water, are left entirely without safe water.
In the Central Valley alone, more than 250,000 residents don’t have access to safe drinking water.
It’s time to acknowledge that access to safe, affordable drinking water is a human right – and then work to make that right a reality.
Right now, state legislators have the opportunity to support a package of five bills that would make water a human right for all Californians. These bills have passed through their original house and now need to pass either the Senate or Assembly before they can move on to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk:
- AB 685 (Eng)– Establishes the human right to water in California.
- AB 938 (V.M. Perez)– Requires that public health notifications about water be made available in the languages the community speaks.
- AB 983 (Perea)– Promotes small community water system consolidation to provide sustainable, affordable solutions where possible.
- AB 1221 (Alejo)– Ensures access to funding to clean up contamination for disadvantaged communities.
- SB 244 (Wolk)– Requires local municipalities to include a plan to provide services to island or fringe communities when they update their general plans.
According to the Department of Public Health, more than 11.5 million Californians rely on water from suppliers that experienced at least one violation of State Drinking Water Standards. As many as 8.5 million Californians rely on supplies that experienced more than five instances of unsafe levels in a single year.
In the Central Valley and Central Coast regions, more than 90% of communities depend on groundwater for drinking, while nitrate levels in groundwater are sometimes well above safe limits. Families in these communities are at particular risk of adverse health impacts from contaminated water supplies.
Buying bottled water is not an acceptable alternative to safe, affordable tap water to bathe in, cook with, and drink. It’s time to make access to safe, clean water a right, not a privilege, in California.
Take action: Tell your legislators: safe, clean water is a right, not a privilege.
To see Assemblymember Mike Eng talk about his bill (one of five in the package) and why water should be a human right watch this.
