Budget Deal Targets Water Bill Debt Without Addressing Affordability
For Immediate Release
June 27, 2023
Contact:
Connor Malone, Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, cmalone@leadershipcounsel.org, (760) 450-6216
Kelsey Hinton, Community Water Center, kelsey.hinton@communitywatercenter.org, (765) 729-1674
Lauren Ahkiam, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, lahkiam@laane.org
Marissa Urias, Clean Water Action, murias@cleanwater.org, (415) 936-5602
Budget Deal Targets Water Bill Debt Without Addressing Affordability
State Urged to Prioritize Low-income Rate Assistance for Water
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Lawmakers reached a deal to pass California’s 2023-24 budget on Monday, which includes $200 million allocated to additional water and wastewater arrearages at the State Water Board. However, water justice advocates remain concerned for the funds cut from drinking water and wastewater infrastructure as the state has an estimated $10 billion funding gap to ensure the Human Right to Water for all.
Providing additional funds to the State Water Board for water and wastewater arrearages is key to addressing debt accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to burden low-income families throughout the state. While originally intended for the Low-income Household Water Assistance Program, managed by California’s Department of Community Services & Development, this adjustment is a win for relieving water debt quickly. The State Water Board has done an excellent job to quickly distribute arrearage payments to water systems, which in turn clears debt directly for customers. In the initial water arrearage appropriation, the State Board was able to distribute more than a $500 million in funding in just a few months
“Angelenos, like their neighbors across the state, continue to struggle with affordable utility access. The initial arrearages program quickly provided Angelenos nearly $130 million in water and wastewater debt relief, and this budget agreement will help address an equivalent level of remaining debt facing over 50,000 LA households. Continued action will be crucial to ensure long-term water affordability and quality,” says Lauren Ahkiam, Director of the Water Justice LA Campaign for Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE).
Unfortunately, water debts continue to rise with the cost of water. These funds can only be applied through the COVID-19 emergency, which ended February of this year and can only address debt that has already accrued. The state must prioritize the creation of a low-income rate assistance program (LIRA) to address affordability at the source rather than relying on emergency relief once families are already in debt.
“Communities should not be forced to choose between water that is toxic and water that is unaffordable,” says Kyle Jones, Policy & Legal Director of Community Water Center. “Safe drinking water is a necessity and whether or not a family can afford their water should not be based on their zip code.”
Funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure was cut in the budget deal, which will impact small, rural communities of color hardest. California currently has an approximate $10 billion shortfall for safe water and wastewater infrastructure needs. If the state is to truly solve its water crisis, we need substantial, flexible funding at the state and federal levels to bridge the gap on our infrastructure crisis. Funding must account for community outreach and input which is necessary to drive change successfully.
“More than 900 water systems in California are failing or at risk of failing, almost all of them very small water systems,” says Jennifer Clary, California Director for Clean Water Action. “Without funding to upgrade these systems, families - largely low income communities of color - will be at risk of contamination, water outages and increasing costs for increasingly fragile water supplies.”
Finally, we appreciate the Legislature improving groundwater quality protections in the Drought and Flood trailer bill. To adapt to the state’s climate reality, capturing flood flows to recharge depleted aquifers is key to achieving groundwater sustainability. However, recharge projects can lead to water quality impacts if not sited or operated correctly, and the final language does not contain a requirement for proactive planning or mapping of safe recharge sites by the state.
“Proactive planning ahead of flooding events will ensure there is no uninformed rush to put water in the ground at the expense of communities' access to safe and clean groundwater,” says Michael Claiborne, Directing Attorney with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “The need to protect communities from flood risk and use floodflows for recharge cannot come at the expense of drinking water quality.”
As the new fiscal year begins, we look forward to continuing to partner with the Governor and Legislature to prioritize safe and affordable water for all Californians.
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Clean Water Action - Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. Our Mission is to protect our environment, health, economic well-being and community quality of life. Clean Water Action organizes strong grassroots groups and coalitions, and campaigns to elect environmental candidates and to solve environmental and community problems. For more information, visit our website at www.cleanwater.org or follow us on Twitter @cleanh2oca and Facebook @CleanWaterActionCalifornia.
Community Water Center (CWC) works to ensure that all communities have reliable access to safe, clean, and affordable water. Founded in 2006, CWC is a not-for-profit environmental justice organization, whose mission is to act as a catalyst for community-driven water solutions through education, organizing, and advocacy. For more information, visit our website at www.communitywatercenter.org or follow up on Twitter @CWaterC.
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) works to build a new economy rooted in good jobs, thriving communities, and a healthy environment through recharging democracy through grassroots organizing and community-oriented policy. For more information, visit our website at https://laane.org or follow us on Twitter @LAANE.
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability works alongside the most impacted communities to advocate for sound policy and eradicate injustice to secure equal access to opportunity regardless of wealth, race, income and place. We work with community leaders throughout the San Joaquin Valley and Eastern Coachella Valley on such issues as safe affordable drinking water, basic transit services, wastewater services, decent affordable housing, and the right to live free from industrial pollution with infrastructure that supports healthy lifestyles. Through co-powerment, organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, and research, we confront California's stark inequalities manifest in too many of California's low income communities and communities of color. Twitter: LCJandA FB: @lcjacalifornia IG: @leadership_counsel Web: https://leadershipcounsel.org/
