As drought settles over the San Joaquin Valley, a new report warns of other circumstances that could result in entire communities losing drinking water. More than a million Valley residents could lose their public water in coming decades under the sweeping groundwater legislation known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act …
Read More »In Letter To Congress, Water Agencies Call For Drinking Water Relief Funding
In March, the COVID-19 relief bill known as the CARES Act set aside $ 900 million to help Americans pay their utility bills. Earlier this week, a broad coalition of water agencies delivered a letter to Congress advocating for more funding. The letter, submitted Monday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, …
Read More »Newsom Establishes Long-Term Safe And Affordable Drinking Water Fund
Governor Gavin signed a historic water bill into law on Wednesday morning, and he chose to sign it in a rural community outside Fresno. Newsom was joined by local residents, environmental advocates, and legislators as he signed Senate Bill 200, which creates a long-term fund to support the more than …
Read More »California Legislators Want Safe Drinking Water. They Haven’t Agreed On How To Fund It.
A state senate committee is set to vote on a bill today that would address safe and affordable drinking water throughout California, a goal Governor Gavin Newsom has also prioritized in his proposed budget. Still to be decided is how to fund it. Newsom has proposed taxing residential water users …
Read More »Unsafe Drinking Water Is Bad Enough: But What If You’re The One Tasked With Fixing It?
When the federal government reduced how much arsenic it would allow in drinking water in 2006, the water system in Jim Maciel’s Central Valley community was suddenly considered unsafe to drink. Bringing that arsenic content back down to a safe level required a lot of work, as he explains to …
Read More »‘I Cannot Sleep Well’ – Governor Newsom On Unsafe Drinking Water During Visit To Parlier
Governor Gavin Newsom signed his first pieces of legislation into law on Wednesday, and he chose to sign them at a school where the water contains a carcinogen and kids can’t even use the drinking fountains. Newsom opened his visit in a history classroom, introducing the bills to a room …
Read More »Governor Newsom Visits Valley To Hear Challenges Of Unclean Drinking Water
Of all the ground Governor Gavin Newsom covered in his first week in office, he already appears to be showing a commitment to improving the state’s drinking water. On Friday, Governor Newsom took a road trip to Monterey Park Tract, an unincorporated community in Stanislaus County. There, he and his …
Read More »How A Law On Lead In School Drinking Water May Not Go Far Enough
In January of this year, a state law went into effect that requires public schools throughout California to test their drinking water for lead by July of 2019. Lawmakers enacted the regulation in an effort to improve water quality at schools. And while thousands of water districts have now tested …
Read More »Bills To Create Drinking Water Fund Die In State Legislature
California’s legislative session ended last week, and with it, the hopes for a statewide pool of money that would have supported drinking water projects. It was called the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, and it would have been available for disadvantaged communities in need of water cleanup projects. The …
Read More »Fresno, Clovis Plan To Mix Recycled Sewer Water For Drinking
If you’ve been to Disneyland, Cambria, many parts of Los Angeles, then you most likely had a swig of highly treated recycled water. Recycled water meaning, yes, it was once in a sewage treatment plant. For many years this recycled water has helped Orange County meet the needs of its …
Read More »California drinking water tax dies in budget compromise
A proposed tax on California’s drinking water, designed to clean up contaminated water for thousands of Californians, was abandoned by Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders Friday as part of … Click to Continue »
Read More »Is your drinking water clean in Merced County? Advocates say rural residents at risk
Dos Palos student Ace Mejia Sanchez doesn’t know where the drinking fountains are located at her school. Why would she? Nobody uses them. The 17-year-old said she’s been taught all … Click to Continue »
Read More »Valley Groups Divided On Support For Major Drinking Water Bill
More than 300 California communities lack access to clean drinking water. A disproportionately high number of those communities lie in the San Joaquin Valley, as we reported in our 2017 series Contaminated . Last fall, a bill with a proposed solution passed the state senate but has since remained in …
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