Written by CDFA Secretary Karen Ross and California State Water Resources Control Board Chair Felicia Marcus via Sacramento Bee Sacramento, California – When we read about drinking water problems like those in Flint, Michigan, it’s easy to think that would never happen here.
And we’ve consolidated smaller systems in communities like East Porterville, where clean water now flows into hundreds of homes that were without it.
Bond funds and loans can’t be used to cover these costs, but without these resources, small systems don’t qualify for the funding that is available to cover the capital costs of these projects.
The governor’s proposed budget includes a new Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund created from fees on fertilizer, dairies and livestock, and a fee of less than a dollar a month assessed on water bills.
And most critical, it will help cover ongoing water treatment costs, providing the last piece of the puzzle for small systems that are currently unable to get grants and loans and hire qualified managers.
Let’s be clear: Existing funds would not provide the kind of multi-year funding guarantee needed to secure capital financing and maintain critical water infrastructure 24 hours a day.
The proposed dedicated funding source will not compete with other general fund needs and will provide the state with essential infrastructure investment and public health protection over time.
Using fees to pay for the state’s basic needs makes good sense.
The proposed drinking water fee of less than a dollar a month has the same clear connection to addressing a critical need – and costs even less.
That is why we are urging members of California Legislature to approve the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund this session.

Ten Cambodian villagers have died and 120 others have been sickened after drinking water suspected to be contaminated with insecticide, a health official said Sunday.
The dead and sickened villagers exhibited the same symptoms including breathing problems, dizziness, vomiting and chest pains, said the head of the Kratie Provincial Health Department, Chhneang Sivutha.
He said villagers began getting sick on Thursday.
Health authorities have collected water and food samples from the two villages and are awaiting laboratory results.
The deputy provincial police chief, Chhim Sokhim, suspected rainwater from nearby farms that use insecticide had come into contact with a stream where villagers collect water used for drinking and cooking.
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Outbreaks of food and water poisoning are not uncommon in Cambodia, where health checks are rare and safety regulations lax.

Hundreds of people in a New Hampshire town have signed a petition asking a plastics company believed to be the source of tainted groundwater to pay for water filters at the town’s schools.
The group of Merrimack residents says Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics has provided filtration in other towns with contaminated water, but taxpayers are currently paying to filter water at Merrimack schools.
The company tells WMUR-TV that testing of the school district’s water found levels of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, well below state safety guidelines.
The chemical, used in coatings such as Teflon, has been linked to certain kinds of cancer and thyroid disease.
The company has previously agreed to provide safe drinking water for hundreds of homes affected by contamination.
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Tiscornia Beach, at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers near Discovery Park, recorded E. coli levels in February that were seven times the threshold set by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to new weekly testing by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.
"In the summer, there are always people in the water at Discovery Park."
Dr. Olivia Kasirye, Sacramento County’s public health officer, said that while there are more than 700 subspecies of E. coli formed from animal and human waste, "only a small number … cause disease in human beings."
However, water board officials said the elevated levels should serve as a caution for people who use the river.
Tests along the lower American River, roughly between Howe Avenue and the confluence of the Sacramento River, in recent years have found average levels of E. coli that were higher than the EPA standard, "beyond which the water body is not recommended for recreation."
Beginning this summer, the water board, along with the Sacramento Area Sewer District and Sacramento County, will launch a yearlong study using DNA testing to determine the sources of E. coli bacteria.
Meanwhile, the water board said it was sharing the weekly E. coli data with Sacramento County health officials and park managers, who are in a position to post warnings and restrict access to waterways.
"Yes, there are elevated levels, so it is important to get that message out and tell people … ‘If you do choose to swim, these are the things you need to do to make sure that you minimize the risk and take care of yourself.’"
Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Coalition to End Homelessness, said he thought a lack of public restrooms could be a major contributor to high E. coli levels.
Many of those people camp along the American River.

The Latest on drinking water contamination in a Montana county (all times local): 2:40 p.m. A Montana county has agreed to upgrade a small community drinking water system after securing $588,000 in grants.
The proposed agreement between Beaverhead County and the U.S. Department of Justice was filed Wednesday with a lawsuit that accused the Jackson drinking water system of multiple violations.
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Federal environmental officials found that the groundwater system exceeded acceptable levels of arsenic and radioactive contaminants, and that the water and sewer district failed to monitor for contamination and file required disclosures.
Under the deal, the county agrees to regularly monitor and report as soon as the deal takes effect.
The U.S. government is seeking a court order to force Beaverhead County to comply with drinking water standards, monitoring and reporting requirements for a small community water system in Jackson.
The Department of Justice filed its lawsuit Wednesday after finding the county’s water and sewer district committed numerous violations dating back to 2009, and then disobeyed multiple Environmental Protection Agency orders to fix them.
The violations include levels of arsenic and radioactive contaminants that exceeded the limits multiple times.
Despite that, the lawsuit says, the district failed to monitor for those and other contaminants and failed to tell regulators and the public about the excessive contaminants and its own reporting violations.
Beaverhead County attorney Jed Fitch did not immediately return a call for comment Friday.

A boil-water advisory is in effect for El Dorado Irrigation District customers in the Salmon Falls and El Dorado Hills areas due to a break in a water line.
The advisory was announced at 11 a.m. Thursday and remained in effect at 2:30 p.m Repair work was being performed in the Salmon Falls Road area, with no estimated time for completion, according to a district news release.
Customers are advised to boil water or use bottled water until they receive a phone call or email notification that the advisory has been lifted.
Water should be boiled for at least one minute, then cooled for drinking, food preparation, brushing teeth and personal hygiene, the news release says.
Residents are advised not to use ice from automatic ice makers or to rely on commercial water filtration systems.
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For more information, call the district at 530-642-4000 or email billing@eid.org.

About 100 state residents who lack access to clean drinking water will head to the Capitol today and join with several lawmakers to support Brown’s proposal, which the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Resources and Transportation will discuss during a hearing at 11 a.m. in Room 447.
"No one in this state should have to be exposed to contaminated water."
Supporters of Brown’s fund include environmental and agricultural groups who argue immediate action is necessary to save residents from contaminated drinking water.
Brown’s plan would put the State Water Resources Control Board in charge of collecting fees from residents and businesses that use public water systems.
Brown’s 2018-19 budget proposes $4.7 million to "take initial steps toward implementation" of the new fund, which includes hiring staff, developing fee collection systems and assessing how much ongoing funding may be needed to fix contaminated water systems.
Pedro Hernandez said long-term support for clean drinking water programs is needed as other funding sources, such as Proposition 1, dry up.
The Association of California Water Agencies does not support Brown’s current proposal due to its proposed tax on water users.
ACWA and more than 135 public water agencies are instead proposing an alternative funding plan to ensure clean drinking water for state residents.
"For that small fee, residents in California could help support other residents’ rights to clean drinking water," he said.
WALK OUT: California political leaders will participate in the National School Walk Out taking place around the country today in protest of gun violence following last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

About 100 state residents who lack access to clean drinking water will head to the Capitol today and join with several lawmakers to support Brown’s proposal, which the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Resources and Transportation will discuss during a hearing at 11 a.m. in Room 447.
"No one in this state should have to be exposed to contaminated water."
Supporters of Brown’s fund include environmental and agricultural groups who argue immediate action is necessary to save residents from contaminated drinking water.
Brown’s plan would put the State Water Resources Control Board in charge of collecting fees from residents and businesses that use public water systems.
Brown’s 2018-19 budget proposes $4.7 million to "take initial steps toward implementation" of the new fund, which includes hiring staff, developing fee collection systems and assessing how much ongoing funding may be needed to fix contaminated water systems.
Pedro Hernandez said long-term support for clean drinking water programs is needed as other funding sources, such as Proposition 1, dry up.
The Association of California Water Agencies does not support Brown’s current proposal due to its proposed tax on water users.
ACWA and more than 135 public water agencies are instead proposing an alternative funding plan to ensure clean drinking water for state residents.
"For that small fee, residents in California could help support other residents’ rights to clean drinking water," he said.
WALK OUT: California political leaders will participate in the National School Walk Out taking place around the country today in protest of gun violence following last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

It’s starting to look like a drought year for California farmers who depend on water from the federal government.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday that most farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta who get water from the federal Central Valley Project will receive just 20 percent of their requested allocation this year.
The agency said it can’t yet provide an initial allocation figure for many Sacramento Valley water agencies because of the lack of rain and the legal requirement that plenty of water be kept in Shasta Lake, the largest reservoir in California, to protect endangered species of Chinook salmon.
Despite last winter’s record rainfall, Californians must "prepare for the potential of return to drought conditions," said Federico Barajas, deputy regional manager of the bureau.
The Sierra Nevada snowpack is just 20 percent of normal and most of the state has received rainfall levels that are well below average.
Last winter’s record Northern California rainfall filled most of the state’s reservoirs and will ensure that most of the irrigation districts and municipal agencies that belong to the CVP will get at least some water from the feds.
At the San Juan Water District in suburban Sacramento, for instance, the reservoir conditions provide a cushion against the uncertainty of not receiving an initial allocation.
The State Water Project has set an initial allocation of 20 percent for all of its farm and municipal customers.
The short-term weather forecast does offer some relief.
The National Weather Service said the Sierra is expected to get as much as 8 inches of new snow starting late Wednesday.

3M Co. has agreed to pay the state of Minnesota $850 million to settle a major case alleging the manufacturer damaged natural resources and contaminated groundwater by disposing of chemicals over decades, Minnesota’s attorney general announced Tuesday.
The state was seeking $5 billion from Maplewood, Minnesota-based 3M in a case that focused on the company’s disposal of chemicals once used to make Scotchgard fabric protector and other products.
"We’re pleased with the settlement.
We think the settlement will help solve a problem in Minnesota.
It’s been a problem that has been a long time in the making for many decades," Swanson said.
Swanson said 3M will pay the state in one lump sum within the next 15 days.
The company began producing PFCs in the 1950s and legally disposed of them in landfills for decades.
The state and 3M reached a deal three years later requiring the company to spend millions to clean up landfills and provide clean drinking water to affected communities.
But Minnesota sued in 2010, alleging 3M researched PFCs and knew the chemicals were getting into the environment and posing a threat to human health.
Since the Minnesota lawsuit was filed in 2010, concerns over PFCs have grown.