Safe Drinking Water

Why is there unsafe drinking water in some Central Valley communities?

Many communities in the Central Valley rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. In some localized areas, contaminants, including salts, nitrate, pesticides, heavy metals, and organisms that can cause disease, have seeped into the groundwater. Not having safe drinking water, whether from private wells or from a public water system, is an urgent problem, particularly in rural, low-income communities.

What are the potential human health risks of nitrate in drinking water?

The California State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water (DDW) regulates public drinking water systems.

According to the State Water Board, “Nitrite can interfere with the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen to the tissues of the body, producing a condition called methemoglobinemia. It is of greatest concern in infants, whose immature stomach environment enables conversion of nitrate to nitrite, which is then absorbed into the blood stream. The effects of nitrite are often referred to as the ‘blue baby syndrome.’ High nitrate levels may also affect the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood of pregnant women.” The DDW web page offers a wide range of information about drinking water health and regulations. 

How did nitrate contaminate the groundwater?

Wastewater is water discharged from our home (sewer or septic tank), agriculture (farms and dairies), industries (such as food processing), or cities (public sewer system), and from surface or stormwater runoff. This wastewater carries contaminants (nitrate, pesticides, heavy metals, and organisms) that can be released into a river, a lake, or the soil where it seeps or moves slowly into the groundwater below the ground. At high enough concentrations, the contaminants can make groundwater supplies unusable for drinking water and, in some cases, for agricultural use.

In localized areas, nitrate is a major cause of unsafe drinking water. Nitrate seeps slowly into the groundwater from fertilizers or after being discharged as wastewater from animal feedlots, industrial facilities, municipal wastewater treatment plants, or leaky septic systems. For example, when fertilizer containing nitrate is applied to crops, not all nutrients in the fertilizer are absorbed by the plants. The excess nutrients then seep into groundwater supplies as nitrate. 

Drinking water with high levels of nitrate can create human health risks, especially for infants and pregnant women. Because nitrate levels have been increasing in groundwater over the last few decades, some drinking water supplies are unhealthy and do not meet State drinking water standards. 

Who is responsible for regulating water quality?

Agricultural, municipal, and industrial facilities and households are all responsible for managing possible contaminants in their wastewater, or discharges of waste that enter our state’s waters. Authority for regulating discharges to waters of the state, which includes both surface and ground water, is provided primarily to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Water Board), with oversight granted to the State Water Resources Control Board. For discharges to surface waters, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also has authority under the Clean Water Act. The U.S. EPA Clean Water Act authorities have been delegated to the State Water Board and the Central Valley Water Board.

Drinking water in the Central Valley is provided in several ways—large city systems, water districts, small community water systems, and private household wells. The State Water Board, Division of Drinking Water regulates small and large drinking water systems, but not individual wells. In areas where groundwater has high nitrate levels, the cost of treatment systems and maintenance can be high, particularly for small systems and private wells. In many small, disadvantaged communities, residents struggle to pay high water bills for treated water or the costs for bottled or tanked water. 

Current regulations for nitrate discharges do not provide a link between the discharge and the need for groundwater users to have safe drinking water. More effort is needed to provide safe drinking water in communities affected by nitrate in groundwater.

What is the new regulatory approach for providing Safe Drinking Water?

Changes in regulations are needed to address complex nitrate contamination. Current regulations do not adequately address the need for safe drinking water. The regulations also do not allow local flexibility to maintain productive activities for communities, business, and agriculture that are so important for sustaining the Central Valley economy. 

A group representing growers, dairies, industries, local communities, regulators from government agencies, environmental organizations, and the Central Valley Water Board formed the Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability (CV-SALTS). The goals of the CVSALTS program are to:

1. Identify short- and long-term solutions to ensure safe drinking water in communities where groundwater is high in nitrates.
2. Reduce impacts from nitrate and salts to the groundwater.
3. Where reasonable and feasible, restore groundwater quality. 

To meet these goals, using scientific studies, CV-SALTS developed the 2017 Salt and Nitrate Management Plan (SNMP). The SNMP proposes new, more locally flexible regulations for nitrate and salts. Once the new regulations are adopted in 2019, they will be implemented first in high-priority areas that include: Kaweah, Turlock, Chowchilla, Tule, Modesto, and Kings groundwater sub-basins and basins. The first goal of these new requirements will require nitrate dischargers, individually or collectively, to provide safe drinking water in communities where groundwater is contaminated by nitrate.

What programs support safe drinking water for disadvantaged communities?

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) has programs that support access to safe drinking water supplies and help offset the cost of buying water. Depending on the program, the State Water Board offers technical and financial assistance (loans and/or grants) for smaller community water systems and residents located in disadvantaged communities. 

• Senate Bill 200, signed into law July 2019 provides $130 million annually for ten years to the State Water Board for grants, loans, contracts, or services to help water systems provide safe and affordable drinking water. 

• In 2016, funds (from the State’s Cleanup and Abatement Fund Account) were allocated for the Interim Emergency Drinking Water program to address drought-related drinking water emergencies and provide interim emergency drinking water to disadvantaged communities with a contaminated water supply. 

• The State Water Board Division of Financial Assistance Office of Sustainable Water Solutions offers funding and technical assistance to disadvantaged communities through three funds: The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and Proposition 1 bond funds.

The Central Valley Salinity Coalition partnered with Self-Help Enterprises to pilot a program to bring testing and safe drinking water to those that are most sensitive to nitrates through a partnership with the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in the San Joaquin Valley.  The Pilot Report is available here with recommendations for expanding the program in other areas.