nitrate

Where Might Funding For Safe Drinking Water Flow From?

Rebecca Plevin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:19:39 +0000

For the past 35 years, Sandra Garcia has picked grapes, plums and peppers on San Joaquin Valley farms. But when she returns to her home in the small, Tulare County community of Poplar, she’s reminded of agriculture’s impact on her drinking water.

She can’t drink it because it contains unhealthy levels of nitrates. And she can’t cook with it, because boiling water can concentrate the nitrate level. It’s a serious health issue for infants and pregnant women.

California in Violation Of Safe Drinking Water Act

Amy Quinton — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:05:58 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says California is in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The federal government has provided the state one-point-five billion dollars to make loans and grants to water systems across the state. But since October 2012, about a half billion dollars remains unspent.

EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld says in many cases the money has been committed, but the projects are not “shovel-ready”. As a result, other communities’ drinking water needs remain unmet.

Report: Cleanup Nitrate Pollution With Fee on Fertilizer Sales

Joe Moore — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 02:54:31 +0000

The State Water Resources Control Board is recommending that California fund efforts to mitigate nitrate pollution through a statewide fee on fertilizer.

In a report to the Legislature, the board said that groundwater nitrate pollution in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley is likely to get worse in the future, and a dedicated funding stream is needed to address the problem.

Agricultural fertilizer and confined animal facilities are considered some of the top sources of nitrate pollution.

Lawmakers Introduce Clean Drinking Water Legislation

Amy Quinton — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 01:26:04 +0000

Several lawmakers introduced nine bills Wednesday they say are designed to help the more than 21 million Californians who rely on contaminated groundwater for drinking.

Environmental groups and several Democratic legislators stood on the Capitol steps to call for an end to contaminated water.

They say so many poor communities lack access to safe drinking water that California will have to invest about $40 billion over the next two decades to solve the problem.

Report: More than Half of Californians Get Contaminated Drinking Water

Ben Adler — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:32:06 +0000

More than half of California's population relies on a contaminated drinking water supply – though most communities blend or treat their water to make it safe. Ben Adler has more from Sacramento on that finding in a new state report out this week.