On June 19, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) sent to the Legislature its blueprint for supplying safe drinking water to all Californians. The Safe Drinking Water Plan for California (Drinking Water Plan) focuses on the nearly 8,000 public water systems that are under the purview of the Division of Drinking Water. The report includes a five-action plan to support and provide resources to the water systems that serve the 2 percent of consumers who do not receive safe drinking water.
Some of the key areas addressed in the report include accessing water in a drought; providing safe drinking water for disadvantaged communities; increasing and sustaining capacity development of systems; identifying shared solutions to supplying safe drinking water, including consolidation of systems; developing cheaper and effective treatment and analytical methods; and, building better emergency preparedness and response protocols for small systems. The Plan can be accessed at here.
The Drinking Water Plan does not address private wells and facilities that are not public water systems. However, the Legislature passed an Administration-backed Budget Trailer Bill, Senate Bill 88, the same day that the Drinking Water Plan was released that authorizes the State Water Board to mandate the consolidation or extension of service of public water systems where there is a disadvantaged community that is in an unincorporated area. Systems subject to mandated consolidation or extension of service include public water systems, state small water systems, or affected residences not serviced by a public water system (i.e. mutual water companies, investor-owned utilities, residences reliant on individual wells). SB 88 can be accessed here.