This must be the year California changes that.
Opinion Last year, leading agricultural associations, public health organizations and environmental justice groups reached consensus on legislation that provides a sustainable, long-term solution.
Given the breadth of support and the urgency of the problem, Senate Bill 623 should top the agenda for the Legislature and Gov.
Jerry Brown.
It appears it may well be: The governor showed extraordinary leadership in his budget proposal, allocating $5 million in startup funds.
Many have unsafe levels of arsenic, which can cause cancer and other serious illnesses.
The families who rely on these unsafe water systems are forced to buy bottled water for drinking, cooking and washing, even as they pay monthly water bills.
But these funds cannot be used to help communities afford the ongoing cost of providing safe drinking water.
In addition, with the support of such influential farming groups as the Agricultural Council of California, it establishes a small fee on agricultural users to address nitrate contamination as they continue to reduce the impacts of nitrates on groundwater.
In 2017, that solution came together.