INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND LEADERSHIP July 2019

Issue At A Glance: Drinking Water Pollution in California While most Californians have safe drinking water, many of California’s water sources are contaminated with pollutants that are hazardous to human health. Roughly one million people in the state do not have access to safe water, mainly in low-income and agricultural communities. With the growing risk of drought and other disasters as a result of climate change, California will need to find solutions to ensure the right to clean water for all.

Introduction Did You Know? In 2012, California became the first state to pass legislation that declared access to safe water for consumption, cooking, and sanitation as a human right known as the Human Right 71 to Water Act.1 Yet, it is estimated that roughly one million Californians (two to three percent of the population) do not Percent of Californians agree have access to safe drinking water. Around 375,000 that the state must invest in Californians are served all year round by community water infrastructure to ensure the systems that are out of compliance with state and federal safety and quality of drinking safety standards and have public health violations. Hundreds water.19 of thousands more people may be affected by poor water quality since there is a lack of comprehensive information regarding the safety of water in communities that rely on domestic wells that are not regulated by the state. Rural, low- income communities and agricultural communities are disproportionately affected.2 Climate change and population growth will exacerbate the situation, leading to a further shortage of clean water. California must act promptly to identify sustainable solutions that ensure safe and reliable drinking water for all.

Bringing wholeness to individuals and communities, the Institute for Health Policy and Leadership (IHPL) strives to integrate health policy research and education with leadership development. Our goal is to improve the health of our communities by building on our strong heritage of health promotion and disease prevention. To learn more, visit us at www.IHPL.llu.edu INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND LEADERSHIP July 2019

Types of Water Pollutants There are natural and anthropogenic (human-made) sources of water contamination that can result in chemical or bacterial pollution of water.3 The following are a list of the common contaminants, their sources, and their effects on human health: Nitrates Nitrates often end up in the water as byproducts of Factors that Increase the agricultural runoff from manure and fertilizers. Risk of Contamination They can also seep from underground wastewater treatments.4 Nitrates affect the bloodstream’s ability Rural or unincorporated areas that serve low- to transfer oxygen and can result in difficulty in income populations and agricultural breathing, loss of consciousness, and dehydration. communities tend to be disproportionately 2 Infants and pregnant women are especially affected by water contamination. vulnerable.5 The Counties of Los Angeles, San Many of these communities are served by small Bernardino, and Riverside have some of the largest community water systems (each serving fewer shares of nitrate-contaminated water systems that than 3,300 people) that were initially built using surpass the safety threshold.6 inexpensive resources and that do not have the Perchlorates technical, managerial, or financial resources to remove the contaminants.2 Perchlorates are toxins that commonly come from industrial waste such as rocket and missile Moreover, many of the systems rely on propellant. They can affect various hormonal groundwater as opposed to surface water. systems and lead to issues with reproductive Groundwater is more susceptible to development, neurological development, and contamination, especially from naturally metabolism.7 California is one of six states that occurring substances such as arsenic and regulate perchlorate levels.8 uranium.11 Arsenic and Other Carcinogens The communities that do not have proper Arsenic is a naturally occurring component of soil. infrastructure are hit hardest in times of It is a known carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) drought as the wells dry up. Between 2014 and and is also associated with heart disease.9 2016, in the midst of one of the most severe Hexavalent chromium is another common droughts, 66 percent of the affected public water carcinogen and is a byproduct of disinfectant systems were in disadvantaged communities chemicals. A study in the journal Environmental where the median household income was less Health indicated there are several carcinogenic than 80 percent of the state median.12 Moreover, pollutants in California’s public drinking water that customers of smaller water systems paid an affect over 38 million people and can cause over average of 20 percent more annually for their 15,000 cancer cases over the course of a lifetime.10 water compared to other customers.11 2

INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND LEADERSHIP July 2019 Lead in School Water Systems Lead is an element that can cause nervous system damage in children, leading to neurodevelopmental issues such as learning disabilities. In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, had a public health crisis when the city failed to treat the water properly, leading to toxic levels of lead in the water; an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 children were exposed to dangerous levels. The latest data indicates that there are 291 school sites in California with student populations far exceeding 13,000 children that have lead levels above the maximum contaminant level.13

Regulatory Timeline14 Solutions and Sep 2012 Governor signs the Human Right to Future Policies Water Act (AB 685) The solution to clean water for the affected Jan 2014 California declares a State of communities is either treating the water they Emergency due to the drought already have or finding an alternative source of July 2014 Oversight of drinking water quality water. The key to accomplishing this is through is shifted from the Department of funding. California’s newly elected Governor Gavin Public Health to the State Water Newsom stated that finding a solution to the Board problem of poor water quality was a priority. The Sep 2014 Governor signs a series of bills that give the state more regulation over 2019-2020 budget currently proposes an allocation of groundwater pumping $133 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction 15 Nov 2014 Voters approve Proposition 1 that Fund. However, the Public Policy Institute of creates $7.1 billion bonds for water California estimates that the solution would involve projects $160 million annually.2 Mar 2015 State Water Board creates the Office Aside from finding funding for large-scale projects, of Sustainable Water Solutions to focus on providing resources to other initiatives can help alleviate the current struggling communities situation or prevent further damage. For Jun 2015 Governor signs Water System communities that lack the infrastructure, Merger Law (SB 88) that allows consolidation of infrastructure or administrative larger systems to merge with resources may help reduce the burden of high smaller systems without permission management costs. The state should coordinate and Oct 2015 Governor signs Water Affordability facilitate such arrangements. Law (AB 401) to create a state-run water affordability program Areas that are hit the hardest should also create Sep 2016 Governor signs Water System Law emergency response plans to ensure that (SB 1263) giving the state the communities are prepared for the next drought authority to prevent the formation through water conservation efforts and investments of water systems that will not run in durable infrastructure. efficiently Feb 2017 Water Board releases online portal There should also be more reliable data collection to to monitor drinking water get an accurate count of at-risk people who depend compliance on private wells. 3

INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH POLICY AND LEADERSHIP July 2019

Looking Ahead So far, the Counties of Tulare and Kings have been successful in California ensuring that several low-income communities gain access to Water Facts safe drinking water through consolidation with large water systems. Moreover, many of those communities paid lower Fact 1: While boiling water prices for their water. The groups that successfully led these gets rid of bacteria, it can efforts are now working in other counties to achieve the same also increase the results.16 concentration of arsenic, making the water even While much of the focus is on ensuring clean drinking water, it is more unsafe.17 important to remember that clean water for sanitation purposes is also a recognized right and will require proper investments. By Fact 2: Some California making it a priority and enacting effective, preventive policies, families spend between five California can lead the nation in ensuring safe quality water for and ten percent of their its residents. income on water because they have to pay their water References utilities bill while also 18 1. https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Water_Report_2013_Interactive_FINAL.pdf buying water bottles. 2. https://www.ppic.org/wpcontent/uploads/californias-water-providing-safe-drinking- water-november-2018.pdfww.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sd- utbg-safe-water-california-20170413-story.html 3. https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/indicator/drinking-water-contaminants 4. https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/4450/337-142-Nitrogen-Removal- from-OSS-FactSheet.pdf 5. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/nitrate_2013/docs/nitrate_patient-education.pdf 6. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/Nitrate.html 7. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/Perchlorate.ht ml 8. https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/reviewed-perchlorate.php 9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3483370/ 10. https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-019-0475-5 11. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/publications_forms/publications/legislative/docs/20 15/sdwp.pdf 12. https://pacinst.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/01/PI_DroughtAndEquityInCA_Jan_2017.pdf 11209 Anderson Street 13. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/le Loma Linda, CA 92354 adsamplinginschools/LeadSamplingDataSummaryandSchoolsParticipating.pdf Phone: 909-558-7022 14. https://www.circleofblue.org/2017/world/timeline-california-human-right-water/ 15. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-skelton-gavin-newsom-california-budget- Fax: 909-558-5638 20190624-story.html www.IHPL.llu.edu 16. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/thousands-san-joaquin-valley-have-unsafe-drinking- water-clean-water-close/?fbclid=IwAR3HAR6InishJ2vlclx- Questions? uTIgTQ8HuC28cwL_R5aC_kMlCe0BAxMQS7vlQGk Please contact Priya Vedula, MPH 17. http://www.capradio.org/articles/2019/06/12/california-looks-to-clean-air-funds-to-pay-for- clean-drinking-water/ Health Policy Analyst at the Institute 18. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sd-utbg-safe-water- for Health Policy & Leadership california-20170413-story.html ([email protected]) 19. https://www.safewaterforca.org/wp-content/themes/safe-water- theme/assets/docs/waterfoundation_infographic-01-fullsize.pdf 4