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California Invests in Critical Central Valley Water Infrastructure Projects

California’s water authorities will spend $15 million in three crucial water management zones within the drought-ravaged southern Central Valley.

The hub of agricultural production in the Golden State, the Central Valley has also faced the most dire impacts from another historic drought, as thousands of wells went dry last year and many communities faced a total lack of safe drinking water.

Safe Drinking Water Resources are Underway for Tribes in the Coachella Valley

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and local tribes celebrate the passage of Safe and affordable drinking water for Native American tribes, also known as AB 2877. “One of the goals is to help prevent future situations like what occurred at oasis mobile home park but ensure tribal lands, specifically underserved tribal areas, can receive and be prioritized to receive state water infrastructure grants,” says An official from the office of Assemblymember Garcia’s office.

Grants Awarded to Restore Safe Drinking Water for Lake Morena Residents—but Process May Take Until 2024

For more than two years, Lake Morena Village area water users have been drinking bottled water because of formidable nitrate levels in the region’s wells, the main source of water for drinking in the rural San Diego county burg.

In September 2019, the county issued a do-not-drink order for about 125 customers of the Lake Morena Views Mutual Water Company, one of the two main water suppliers in the area.

Opinion: Water Infrastructure — The Unmet Needs of Low-Income Communities

To meet the promise of its day one executive order on Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, the Biden administration needs to provide low-income communities, communities of color and Indigenous people the same access to clean and safe water that the rest of our nation takes for granted. Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan makes a down payment on that promise by funding improved access to clean water for the overburdened communities of Indian Country.

 

 

Is Your Drinking Water Safe? Here’s a Guide to Common Central California Contaminants

Do you know whether your drinking water is polluted with a contaminant? If so, this guide provides a summary of known health risks of contaminants, and how you can protect you and your family if your water is known to be polluted. If you’re unsure, click here to find out if your water system is contaminant and what pollutants are above healthy levels.

BPA Added to California Toxic Chemical List Despite Challenge

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment can list bisphenol A under the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act despite challenges regarding the lack of evidence of its harm to humans, a state appeals court said Monday.

The agency added BPA, a chemical used to coat food and beverage packaging, to the so-called Proposition 65 list in 2013, based on a study published by the National Toxicology Program’s Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction.

COVID-19 Pandemic Should be a Wake-Up Call for Water Security

Urgent action on water security is essential to better prepare societies for future global health crises, say experts at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and Northwestern University in the U.S.

California Childcare Centers Get $6,137,000 to Test for Lead in Drinking Water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued $6,137,000 in grants to assist the California Department of Social Services with identifying sources of lead in drinking water in childcare centers.

“Testing for lead in drinking water is critical for the protection of our children,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “EPA is pleased to support California in its efforts to detect and reduce lead in drinking water, thereby protecting children’s health at childcare centers and elsewhere.”

Why Limiting PFAS in Drinking Water is a Challenge in the U.S.

n article in the local newspaper caught Andrea Amico’s eye in May 2014. It reported that one of the three drinking-water wells at a sprawling business and industrial park nearby was shut down because of high levels of chemical contamination.

“Instantly, my heart sank,” says the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, woman. Amico recalls her reaction to the news: “My husband works there and he drinks water all day, and my two kids go to daycare there and they drink water all day.”

She’d never heard of the substances tainting the tap water—Portsmouth was one of the first communities in the US to discover these chemicals in public drinking water. Amico, who holds a master’s degree in occupational therapy and works in health care, started researching health effects from these contaminants and at first found little information.

Today, the situation has changed.

$130 Million California Commitment to Safe Drinking Water

An ambitious spending plan to shore up hundreds of failing and “at risk” California water systems won approval Tuesday from a key state regulatory agency.

In a unanimous vote, the State Water Resources Control Board authorized a plan to spend up to $130 million in fiscal year 2020-2021 through the newly created Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.