California has an opportunity to be a clean drinking water leader, as it is a leader on the climate front, says Leo Heller, the United Nations special rapporteur, on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation impacts rural well-users, city residents, schoolchildren, mobile home communities and churches across the state.
When my predecessor, Catarina de Albuquerque, visited California, what she found shocked her.
Drinking water conditions were akin to those typically seen in a developing country: families without an acceptable level of safe drinking water or sanitation; exposed pipes running through irrigation ditches; crumbling or nonexistent infrastructure.
California is known around the world for its thriving technology sector and for its movement to fight climate change and protect the environment.
This is a different side of California, and it is deeply troubling.
The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund is based on a simple premise that all must join hands together to ensure universal access to this fundamental right.
Revenues raised will provide sustainable funding for safe drinking water and sanitation to the communities that need help.
The California State Legislature should not miss the opportunity to be a champion of the human rights to water and sanitation when a proposal with an unprecedented array of support lies before them.
I support the swift passage of the proposed Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.