California has made significant progress in helping small communities deal with contaminated drinking water, but bringing safe tap water to hundreds of communities over the next five years will cost more than $11.5 billion, according to a new state estimate.
In a recently released report, state Water Resources Control Board staff estimated that as of earlier this year, about 913,000 Californians relied on public water systems that failed to comply with drinking water regulations, while an additional 1.5 million relied on water systems that were deemed “at risk.”
Officials conducted this evaluation nearly five years after the state established the Safe and Affordable Financing for Equity and Resiliency, or SAFER, drinking water program. They said Report Under the program, the State Water Board has awarded more than $831 million in grants for drinking water projects in underserved communities since 2019, and nearly 250 failing water systems serving more than 2 million people have come into compliance with drinking water standards.
“Our analysis has repeatedly shown that the common factor is size,” said State Water Board Chairman Joaquin Esquivel. “Small systems struggle, especially in communities that have experienced discrimination and disinvestment, and as weather becomes more extreme, new contaminants emerge, and costs rise, their challenges are exacerbated.”
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California declared access to clean, safe, and affordable water a human right in 2012, but the state has faced significant challenges in developing policies and raising adequate funding to bring solutions to communities where people live with contaminated tap water.
In small rural communities across the state, water drawn from wells contains harmful levels of contaminants, including naturally occurring arsenic, bacteria from sewage leaks, nitrates from animal manure, fertilizers or other sources, and carcinogenic chemicals.
Not all systems considered to have failed provided contaminated water, but many contained at least one contaminant at a level that would Violation of safe drinking water standards,
According to state data, about 56% of the 385 failing water systems supply water to disadvantaged communities, and 67% of those supply water to majority-Black communities.
“All of our current failing water systems are on their way to coming off the failing list,” said Christine Abhold, senior environmental scientist for the State Water Board. “They are working on long-term solutions, and our staff and funding resources are being targeted at those most in need.”
State water regulators have found that most of the failing water systems provide water to only a small number of residents, while 98% of the state’s population receives water from sources and suppliers that meet drinking water standards.
Bringing a water system up to regulations requires not only financing, but also planning, engineering work and permits, Abhold said.
State officials have assessed other at-risk communities by analyzing the likelihood of water quality violations or water shortages, among other factors.
The number of people affected has fluctuated in recent months as some water systems have been removed from the list and others added. Latest estimates The report shows that 738,000 people currently get water from failed systems, while more than 1.8 million people depend on 548 systems Drinking water supply is in danger.
The estimated cost of solutions in the latest report was significantly higher than previous state estimates. In 2021 ReportThe State Water Board estimated costs as high as $9.1 billion. Officials said they used new methods and improved data this time, including more water systems and risks in their analysis.
According to the report, the estimated cost of long-term solutions for failed and at-risk public water systems is a total of $6.6 billion over five years, while the cost of solutions for “high-risk” small water systems and domestic wells is a total of $4.9 billion.
The report says that if debt repayment costs and operation and maintenance costs are included, the combined cost would be significantly higher than $11.5 billion, bringing the total estimated cost of “achieving the human right to water” to $15.9 billion.
Officials estimated that there would be $2 billion available in state grant funding over five years, plus $1.5 billion in state loans, leaving a substantial gap in available funds. Officials said a large portion of the money to solve the problems must come from “local cost sharing” funds collected through rates, fees, and taxes.
Higher cost estimates of the report were released in the meantime Discussion on budget cuts in Sacramento.
Citing recent cuts, more than 180 organizations, including environmental groups and others, have said, Letter to state leaders They were urged to approve adding a $10 billion bond to the November ballot to make “direct and meaningful investments in California communities and natural resources most impacted by climate change.”
As part of that ballot measure, he called for the inclusion of $1 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure for communities and tribes.
The groups’ leaders wrote that “recently proposed reductions in funding for such programs have created a consensus that additional bond funding is necessary to ensure priority programs continue beyond this year.”
Jennifer Clary, California director for the group Clean Water Action, said: “Drinking water infrastructure is not a luxury. Without these projects, thousands of Californians will be without access to safe, clean drinking water.”
Clean water advocates also have expressed concern as state officials review the cost of a program that provides home tanks and delivers water by truck to thousands of low-income families whose wells have gone dry.
According to reports submitted to the state, more than 3,000 domestic wells have gone dry across California since 2020. People whose wells have gone dry have relied on water from tanker trucks to fill their tanks, as well as bottled water.
Leaders of Self-Help Enterprises, the nonprofit group that manages the water-haulage effort, recently urged Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders to reject proposals that would strip vital funding for the program. They wrote in an article Letter of 11 June He said removing the $17.5 million would “disrupt access to water for more than 20,000 people who are still awaiting a permanent solution.”
The letter, which was first reported by the news site SJV WaterThe memorandum was also signed by leaders of other organizations, including the Community Water Center and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Withdrawing these funds would cut off access to water for more than 20,000 people who are still awaiting a permanent solution,” the groups said. “Cutting funding for such a vital program would have a devastating impact on rural and disadvantaged communities, as it would cut them off from their only source of water supply immediately, and without warning.”
Leaders of some groups later said funding for the program had been restored.
