Four Million Californians Don't Have Access to Clean Water
Report Exposes Pattern of Discrimination, Calls for Overhaul of Water Policy
Coalition of Community Groups Calls For Change
This article first appeared in January 2005. It is posted here for archival purposes. Some material on this page may be dated.
Oakland, CA -California hides a dirty secret when it comes to water policy.
Skin color and income can have a tremendous influence on whether a person
has safe drinking water or access to uncontaminated places to fish and swim,
according to a new report released today by the Environmental Justice
Coalition for Water. Thirsty for Justice: A People's Blueprint for
California Water documents how water agencies and government regulators
neglect or actually harm people of color and low-income communities by
failing to protect them from pollution and overuse and excluding them from
important decision making processes.
"In a state as rich and prosperous as California, to have millions of people
without access to clean drinking water is just not right," said Paola Ramos,
Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water. "Too many poor
communities have been left out of water projects, locked out of planning
efforts, and denied what most of us take for granted. The good news,
however, is that we can ensure all Californians have access to clean water
by including community voices in water planning and focusing water funding
on disadvantaged communities."
Thirsty for Justice was released today in Sacramento, Richmond, Fresno, and
Los Angeles by a coalition of community groups, Native American tribes,
social justice, public health, and environmental activists who gathered from
across the state to draw attention to the widespread exclusion of people of
color from the boardrooms where crucial water decisions are made.
Residents of urban, industrial areas are demanding that legislators require
industries to clean up toxic waste that is contaminating drinking water and
fish. Tribal groups are insisting that water agencies protect traditional
fishing rights and access to sacred sites when they consider relicensing or
raising dams. Rural Central Valley residents want their water boards take
responsibility for cleaning up contaminated drinking water.
According to the report, democratic water management is crucial to making
clean water available to all. "Large landowners and big-city businesses have
long controlled water development from behind closed doors," said John
Gibler, a researcher with Public Citizen's Water for All campaign. "Thirsty
for Justice shows how California's water problems stem from political
mismanagement and greed, not a shortage of water."
The report's recommendations call for a fundamental restructuring of water
policy in the state, including: requiring all water users to implement
available water conservation and water-use efficiency options before
building new dams, reservoirs, or ocean water desalination plants;
establishing a subsidized water rate for low-income families; and
prohibiting water sales from publicly subsidized water projects.
The Sacramento press conference highlights injustices from Thirsty for
Justice, such as landlessness and lack of access to water due to dams and
diversions specific to Northern California and the San Joaquin Valley.
Speakers address the direct impacts of water transfers and dammed rivers to
low-income and people of color communities. Assembly Member Loni Hancock is
accompanied by community voices from the Maidu, Karuk and Winnemem Wintu
tribes, along with small farmers from Butte County and displaced farm
workers.
"Water policy decisions that overlooked the inextricable tie between
spiritual practices, tribal livelihoods, and ecosystem management caused the
crash of the Karuk fishing economy and a rise in chronic poverty among the
Klamath River tribes." the report states. The Winnemem Wintu tribe held a
war dance last year to protest the expansion of the Shasta Dam that would
have flooded tribal lands, homes and sacred sites. The Winnemem Wintu
explain how their struggle to be heard fits into a statewide pattern of
injustice from water diversion decisions.
"Water is the lifeblood of California communities; sucking it away from
Native tribes and Latino farm workers will only dry up their local
economies, their rivers, their fisheries, their farmland and their cultural
connections." said Alisha Deen, contributing author. Despite the legacy of
injustice facing these communities, a new awareness of water issues is
emerging within the Environmental Justice movement; people are mobilizing
and taking back control of their water. EJ communities are becoming more
and more politically savvy, employing modern strategies to historic
injustice. Members of the EJCW will lobby the state capitol on August 17th,
demanding political and legislative action to remedy their water injustices.
"Thirsty for Justice is a voice for change," said Amy Vanderwarker, Outreach
Coordinator with the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water. "Access to
water is a basic human right, and groups across California are demanding
that our voices be included so that California's water is managed for the
benefit of all."
A copy of Thirsty for Justice can be seen here.
The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water is a network of more than
sixty grassroots and intermediary organizations building a collective,
community-based movement for democratic water management and allocation in
California. EJCW works to empower community members to become strong voices
for water justice in their communities by participating in water policy,
planning and decisions. We hold policy makers accountable for the heavy
impacts water policy has on low-income communities and communities of color.
Participating Organizations: Butte Environmental Council; California Rural
Legal Assistance Foundation; Karuk Tribe; Maidu Cultural & Development
Group; Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
###
Alisha Deen
Legislative Analyst
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
654 13th Street
Oakland CA 94612
510/286-8400 voice
916-743-4406 cell
510/251-2203 fax
