California recognizes the human right to water, the principle that "every person has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water fit for human use, cooking, and sanitary purposes."
However, there are 386 failed water systems in California. Tulare County has 33, according to the California State Water Resources Control Board.
In 2019, the National Water Resources Board launched the Secure and Affordable Financing for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) program to provide sustainable drinking water to disadvantaged communities.
Since then, the number of failed water systems in the state has remained about the same, a statistic that can be misleading, according to Chad Fischer, lead engineer for the SAFER Division of the Bureau of Water's Drinking Water Division.
"What we've seen over the last five years at least is that the number of failed systems remains fairly consistent, which is a little concerning, but that doesn't mean that problems aren't being addressed," Fischer said. "The thing is, we solve problems for communities, but almost as quickly as we can solve those problems, new problems arise for other communities."
Many Californians have already benefited from the SAFER program. Since 2019, the number of people without drinking water has decreased by 43%.
"There has been significant progress, especially if you are one of the 700,000 people who couldn't drink tap water five years ago and can now," Fischer said.
Legislation passed last year changed what it means to suffer from a failing water system. This has led to an increase in the number of water systems deemed broken, but Fischer supports the new guidelines.
"We want to be more inclusive and try to address more systems that are failing or likely to fail. "That's why we're trying to take an increasingly proactive stance when it comes to drinking water solutions," he said, contradicting the impression. that the state's efforts merely maintained the status quo.
"Over time, these systems and projects gain a lot of momentum," Fischer said, predicting a significant decline in the total number of failed systems in the coming years.
"These groups that are on the failure list are the ones specifically targeted by the SAFER program," said Dimitri Stanich, SWRCB public information officer. "The inventory is updated annually to assess progress and define why these systems are failing so we can begin remediation."
Pollution Problems in Tulare County
Much of Tulare County's water problems stem from the fact that it is an agricultural area, Stanich said.
"Systems that lie outside an established water supply system face many of the problems typical of failed systems in the SAFER program," he said. "Many of them face pollution problems, aging infrastructure, decades of disenfranchisement and a lack of investment in the water system, so there are many systems that are failing in the agricultural areas of the Central Valley."
There are many programs and projects in Tulare County that the water department is focused on, Stanich said.
Many of the county's small farming communities grew out of agriculture. Later, residential areas were created, but before water infrastructure was created, agricultural groups dug wells and created a system for water distribution, according to Stanich.
Over time, these communities lacked the resources to maintain this system, so infrastructure failed, groundwater levels fell, and drought and climate change resulted in less water entering the area, he added.
"Tulare County and the Central Valley are indeed at the center of many of the problems facing the state of California as a whole, but they are more exposed to these vicissitudes because they are fragmented, and each of these groups is trying to repair the damage." . a standalone system," Stanich said.
Faulty water systems
Most systems that fail are classified by contamination, Fischer said. The main source of pollution is nitrate, which comes from fertilizers and "certain animal crops," as well as broken septic tanks.
"We see a lot of arsenic in California and it's a natural contaminant," he added. "It is part of the geological formations from which the well extracts groundwater."
Even if a system fails, it can still provide its customers with drinking water. There are several reasons why a system may be classified as defective but still be able to supply drinking water to its customers.
"It's a nuanced definition that goes beyond contaminated water," Stanich said.
Some failures come down to affordability. If the amount of money needed to operate a water system causes water bills to be too high for customers, the system is considered failed. According to Fischer, affordable water accounts for about 2 percent of a customer's income.
"Ten percent of a person's income is not adequate," he said.
Affordability mostly depends on the size of the water system. The larger the system, the cheaper the water prices.
"If you look across the state, customers (of small water systems) are paying $32 more per month than someone using the services of a large utility," Fischer said, adding that large systems are also more immune to problems how defective wells are protected.
The DDW also has a category that assesses the management of water systems and assesses the ability of its leaders to meet their community's water needs.
"Do they have the day-to-day experience to operate the water systems, open the valves properly, take the appropriate samples, collect the appropriate water fees, pay your bills, etc., etc.?" ? Fischer said, pointing out that many small water systems are run by volunteers.
"I say 'volunteers' because often they have another job, maybe as a teacher or as a branch manager, but they are not water professionals," he says. "Managing a water system is not your full-time job. »
How to Deal with Faulty Water Systems
There are state and federal regulations for a water system that provides drinking water to the public. If a water system, regardless of size, violates these regulations, action will be taken and remedial action will be taken, Fischer said.
When a system fails, they receive a notification from the water department that a sample shows it does not meet required standards. The water authority cannot dictate how the system is repaired.
"We tell them you failed and you need to fix the problem, but we can't tell them how to fix the problem," Stanich said. "It's up to them to determine what equipment they need, what process they need to address and how to fix the problem.
The state has the power to punish failing water systems.
"It is an authority that we use very carefully," said Fischer. "Since launching SAFER, we have completed 142 consolidations, and all but a few have been voluntary. »
Working with water system owners who are struggling, as well as residents, community leaders, and sometimes NGOs (non-governmental organizations), can help build a partnership to understand what works best for each community.
The best solution is consolidation.
Consolidation occurs when a small water system is connected and becomes part of a larger system.
"This provides source redundancy, expands the customer base, reduces the cost per customer and increases the resources available to the water system to address problems as they arise," Stanich said.
"Consolidation prepares the community for lasting success. Whenever it is available, it is an opportunity for the smaller system and the people living there to connect to a larger, more compatible system," Fischer said. "When this opportunity presents itself, we want to make sure it comes true." »
On June 25, SWRCB released its fourth drinking water needs assessment, which planned to provide $855 million in financial assistance over the next 12 months to projects that address the drinking water needs of disadvantaged communities. Water systems in these communities have the opportunity each year to apply for grants to address their water problems.
This year, SAFER Program grants will prioritize water systems that regularly fail to provide clean drinking water, providing an opportunity for consolidation, accelerated planning and technical assistance. The grants are based on data that assesses the quality of domestic water systems and wells in the state.
"One of the core principles of the SAFER program is to let data guide the work," said SWRCB President Joaquín Esquivel in the press release announcing the grants. "Before 2019, we didn't even know how many people were served by failing water systems. In California, over the last five years, through our needs assessments, we have built a database and analysis that provides communities with information on drinking water issues. And we also guide how we approach our regulatory and financing work so that it has the greatest possible impact."
The Water Board's goal, according to Stanich, is to ensure that safe, reliable and sufficient quantities of drinking water are available to fulfill the human right to water.
"All of our initiatives try to do this as cost-effectively as possible and as quickly as possible with the resources we have," he said.
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