The California State Water Resources Control Board celebrated the completion of over 100 water system consolidations since 2019.
The State Water Board was joined by U.S. EPA Region 9, the Coachella Valley Water District, the Coachella Valley Unified School District, the SAFER Advisory Group and elected officials at Riverside County’s Westside Elementary.
Before its consolidation into the Coachella Valley Water District, Westside Elementary relied on contaminated well water. The consolidation, and many others throughout the state, are made possible by the State Water Board’s Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) drinking water program, established 2019. The SAFER program focuses on consolidating small, at-risk or failing water systems — which are 20% more likely to serve disadvantaged communities and communities of color — into larger, higher capacity systems. Westside Elementary serves about 350 K-6 students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Through our collective efforts, we have demonstrated that consolidations are sustainable, win-win solutions to drinking water problems,” said State Water Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel. “Today, we celebrate the fact that pipelines are connecting more communities to safe and affordable drinking water, especially those where discrimination and disinvestment have created barriers to access.”
Westside Elementary School’s consolidation was fully funded with over $815,000 in grants from SAFER, $446,000 of which came the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, a federal-state assistance program for infrastructure projects.
Several additional consolidations are underway in the Eastern Coachella Valley. For example, the Coachella Valley Water District has launched two regionalization projects that will merge at least 16 small water systems in total, benefiting three disadvantaged communities. The water district also heads the Disadvantaged Communities Infrastructure Task Force and has developed a master plan, which identifies 75 small water systems for future consolidation.
“We recognize that consolidations are the most effective path to assuring safe drinking water for Eastern Coachella Valley residents,” said Castulo Estrada, board vice president for the water district and member of the SAFER Advisory Group. “The scale, speed, and success of these projects across the state and here at home would not have been possible without the SAFER program's technical and funding support. We will continue to prioritize support for small water systems and look forward to continued collaboration with our local, state, and federal partners to secure additional funding for future projects that advance California's Human Right to Water.”
More than 40,000 Californians in disadvantaged communities now receive safe drinking water because of consolidations. About half of systems currently going through the consolidation process (126 out of 252) at least partially serve disadvantaged communities and schoolchildren.
