The ACLU Foundation of Northern California has been working on improving language access to water system information so that people will know if their water is free of toxic contaminants.
By law, all water systems are required to send out annual consumer confidence reports that notify residents about their drinking water quality.
These water reports do three important things: (1) let people know about possible drinking water contamination, (2) describe any health and safety violations, and (3) provide notice about upcoming meetings where people can speak directly to decision-makers about their water quality.
However, nearly 7 million people in California, more than any other state, have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English.
Each year, it provides a water report template on its agency website, for use by systems throughout the state and which smaller water systems rely on.
The sentence, loosely translated, reads: This report contains very important information about your drinking water.
Providing an English-only template harms already vulnerable communities by limiting their access to important information about their water.
Safe Water is a Human Right In our letter, we asked the SWRCB to provide translated templates that reflect California’s diversity — and they listened.
We’re proud to report that 11 public water systems throughout Fresno, Madera, and Tulare counties are now using these translated templates.
Safe water is a human right, and we will continue working to expand language access across California.