The long and ultimately successful journey to clean drinking water for a rural school district west of Bakersfield may point to a path forward for other remote areas dealing with groundwater contaminated by nitrates and the carcinogen 1,2,3-TCP. Instead of the bottled water they have relied on for almost a decade, students of the Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School District were able to use the district’s drinking fountains last week — many for the first time — thanks to state grants and proceeds from a lawsuit the district brought against companies found liable for the 1,2,3-TCP pollution. Challenges RBG faced along the way are becoming frustratingly common in the Central Valley, from the contamination itself to the district’s inability to consolidate with a larger water district nearby and the considerable expense of maintaining the new treatment system. The state’s hope now is that communities in similar situations pool their resources to achieve similar results.

​Other water quality article:

• U.S. Congressman Jim Costa: House passes Costa’s legislation to enhance clean drinking water, forest health in the San Joaquin Valley