Water Justice Delayed for Low-income Californians
For Immediate Release
August 16, 2024
Contact:
Maraid Jimenez, Community Water Center, (765) 729-1674, maraid.jimenez@communitywatercenter.org
Marissa Urias, Clean Water Action, (415) 936-5602, murias@cleanwater.org
Macy Pereira, Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, (559) 213-1903, mpereira@leadershipcounsel.org
Water Justice Delayed for Low-income Californians
Senate Bill 1255 Held in Appropriations Committee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —California is past due delivering on the Human Right to Water by making water affordable. Water is the only necessity that has no low-income rate assistance program available for our hard working families. Senate Bill 1255 (Durazo) was the best path forward to address our water affordability crisis. This program would have funded critically needed water assistance for approximately 5 million low-income Californians paying a water bill to a system with over 3,300 connections. It would have done so using voluntary donations from higher income households, and did not rely on the state general fund or new taxes or fees.
SB 1255 was the result of four years of advocacy for water rate assistance, taking feedback from water systems, the State Water Board and Governor’s office at each step. In 2022, Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 222, the predecessor of this year’s effort, due to lack of identified funding.
“I stand alongside our partners in this effort to express our extreme disappointment with the decision to hold SB 1255 yesterday. Although California has recognized that access to clean affordable water is a basic human right, we continue to fail more than 1 million of Californians that lack access to this critical necessity without any common sense relief assistance offered despite the clear need and past intent to adopt such a program,” says Senator Maria Elena Durazo. “This problem is not going away and neither are we as we will continue to fight to raise this issue and stand with these struggling Californians to assure that everyone has access to this basic pillar of life.”
“We fought tirelessly over the past year to pass SB1255 and create low-income water rate assistance programs because we know it’s the only way to solve California’s water affordability crisis. We want to thank Senator Durazo for her leadership,” says Susana De Anda, Executive Director of Community Water Center. “We know the fight isn’t over. We’ll keep coming back until everyone in California can have safe water in their homes without falling into debt.”
“Communities we work with in the San Joaquin and East Coachella Valleys are struggling to pay for increasingly unaffordable drinking water,” says Michael Claiborne, Directing Attorney with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “The disappointing decision to hold this bill means that families throughout the state will have to continue to wait for urgently needed assistance.”
“Publicly-owned water agencies struggle to provide low-income rate assistance to their most vulnerable customers, while privately owned energy and water utilities have been providing that help for decades,” said Jennifer Clary, California Director of Clean Water Action. “This is a problem we have to solve, and we look forward to working with the governor, legislators, advocates and water agencies to develop and implement a sustainable solution.”
“I went to Sacramento as a leader from a low-income community of rural workers to advocate for water affordability. We need the California Legislature to consider our struggles as we try to pay for increasing water bills,” says Raquel Sanchez, AGUA Coalition Member from the City of Tulare. “Our communities are fighting for a solution to high water rates and while we face this setback, we will keep fighting for our human right to safe and affordable drinking water.”
"Thank you Senator Durazo for your continued leadership when it comes to justice for Angelenos and our working class siblings statewide,” says Lauren Ahkiam, Climate Campaign Co-Director for Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE). “As water rates continue to rise, we look forward to finding a path forward to protect water access for all.”
In California, the Human Right to Water guarantees safe, clean and affordable drinking water for all. Twelve years later, and we are still allowing families to fall into debt when unable to pay for this vital service. We need real solutions now. We urge the Governor to engage with impacted residents on a path to address unaffordable water rates over the interim.
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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 in the San Joaquin Valley and Eastern Coachella Valley to advocate for sound policy and eradicate injustice to secure equal access to opportunity regardless of wealth, race, income, and place. Leadership Counsel focuses on issues like housing, land use, transportation, safe and affordable drinking water and climate change impacts on communities. 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.
