California Budget Keeps Drinking Water Funds
For Immediate Release
January 10, 2024
Contact:
Marissa Urias, Clean Water Action, (650) 491-4311, murias@cleanwater.org
Maraid Jimenez, Community Water Center, (559) 809-7646, maraid.jimenez@communitywatercenter.org
Connor Malone, Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, (760) 450-6216, cmalone@leadershipcounsel.org
California Budget Keeps Drinking Water Funds
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today, Governor Newsom released California’s draft 2024-25 state budget, which preserves investments for drinking water and for the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) program. Now more than ever, it is crucial state resources back funding to move safe and accessible water projects forward after Congressional earmarks continue to reduce infrastructure funding nationwide.
“SAFER continues to be California’s most critical investment for realizing the Human Right to Water for all. We’re heartened to see this program maintained and look forward to ensuring critical drinking water projects continue to move forward with the urgency they deserve,” says Kyle Jones, Policy & Legal Director for Community Water Center. “Given the reduced funding available for state infrastructure due to Congressional earmarks, it is imperative that California continue to prioritize funding sources that will help fulfill the Human Right to Water.”
“We are encouraged that the Governor is proposing to restore $200 million that was cut from critical water and wastewater infrastructure investments in the 2023 budget,” says Nataly Escobedo, Policy Coordinator for Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “Those cuts have already resulted in delays for community priorities, like construction of septic-to-sewer projects, and we strongly support the proposal to restore these funds.”
Despite this continued funding for drinking water projects, the proposed cuts in funding for PFAS treatment could pose a challenge to ongoing efforts to ensure drinking water is safe for everyone.
“While the highest priority is continuing PFAS testing to truly understand the scope of this health crisis, we must be prepared as a state to address contamination. Treatment is cost-prohibitive for impacted low-income communities, and we will continue to push for funding to prioritize testing water sources for underserved communities and to protect community health,” says Andria Ventura, California Legislative and Policy Director at Clean Water Action.
The Human Right to Water guarantees clean, safe, affordable and accessible water for all Californians. While the commitments in today’s proposed budget allow the state to keep moving towards the promise of safe water, we look forward to working with the state legislature to permanently alleviate the statewide water affordability crisis.
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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.
Web: www.communitywatercenter.org.
Twitter: @CWaterC
Facebook: @CommunityWaterCenter
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: leadershipcounsel.org
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.
