As the Newsom Administration, the Legislature, and a diverse array of stakeholders engage in continued discussions regarding safe drinking water solutions for all Californians, the Northern California Water Association is committed to advancing a comprehensive approach that addresses the full scope of challenges confronting impacted communities.
In NCWA’s view, a comprehensive approach consists of elements that:
- Empower effective local agencies that can provide sustainable managerial structures (for example, SB 414 (Caballero)).
- Joins existing funding sources with new approaches to creating a durable funding source for safe drinking water solutions that do not require a controversial water tax. NCWA supports proposed solutions including the continuous appropriation of general fund and the establishment of a Safe Drinking Water Trust. These solutions can be financed using a portion of this year’s historic state general fund surplus and would provide a sustained funding source sufficient to address the known capital and ongoing operations and maintenance funding needs of impacted communities.
- Recognizes the effectiveness of locally-driven efforts to address these issues, as well as the key role that existing state programs and authorities can play in continuing to reduce the scope of this problem.
NCWA applauds State Senate President pro tem Toni Atkins’ recently announced “Safe Drinking Water Plan” as consistent with the need for comprehensive approaches to ensure safe drinking water for all Californians.
NCWA will continue to advocate for a comprehensive policy approach to addressing safe drinking water that empowers effective local agencies, targets funding to address specific needs, and emphasizes collaborative locally-appropriate solutions to enable continued progress toward ensuring that all Californians have access to safe drinking water.
As we move forward, we would welcome any thoughts, suggestions or ideas that can help advance these important efforts. Please provide your thoughts to arobin@norcalwater.org.
