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Publication August 6, 2020

Solving Water Challenges in Disadvantaged Communities
A Handbook to Understanding the Issues in California and Best Practices for Engagement

An estimated 1 million Californians, living in economically stressed pockets of the state, face daunting challenges in obtaining clean and affordable water to drink, addressing sanitation or stormwater needs, and gaining the help to do so. Across the state, efforts are underway to provide help. The goal is to do so in a way that allows members of disadvantaged communities to express their needs and wants, set priorities and obtain the technical assistance necessary to begin to solve their challenges.

This handbook is intended as a resource for anyone in, or involved with, communities throughout the state that have historically struggled to make their water resource needs known to agencies with the power to help.

This handbook offers useful background as well as advice from people and agencies that have been engaged in seeking out members of disadvantaged communities and Native American tribes and have helped them have their voices heard and their needs addressed, whether for access to clean drinking water, sanitation or flood protection.

In this handbook, you will find:

  • Background on the diversity of water challenges faced by disadvantaged communities throughout California.
  • An overview of efforts to better engage and collaborate with members of those communities to learn what they want and need in order to improve their water quality, supply, sanitation and other water resource needs.
  • Profiles on specific areas across the state – urban, rural and mountain among them – and advice distilled from the experiences of those involved in engagement efforts, which readers can apply to their specific circumstances.

The handbook was financed by a grant under the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1), administered by California Department of Water Resources, and prepared under an agreement with the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority. 

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Referring Pages

Western Water April 30, 2021 Solving Water Challenges in Disadvantaged Communities California Water Map By Gary Pitzer

Pandemic Lockdown Exposes the Vulnerability Some Californians Face Keeping Up With Water Bills
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Growing mountain of water bills spotlights affordability and hurdles to implementing a statewide assistance program

Single-family residential customers who are behind on their water bills in San Diego County's Helix Water District can get a one-time credit on their bill through a rate assistance program funded with money from surplus land sales.As California slowly emerges from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, one remnant left behind by the statewide lockdown offers a sobering reminder of the economic challenges still ahead for millions of the state’s residents and the water agencies that serve them – a mountain of water debt.

Water affordability concerns, long an issue in a state where millions of people struggle to make ends meet, jumped into overdrive last year as the pandemic wrenched the economy. Jobs were lost and household finances were upended. Even with federal stimulus aid and unemployment checks, bills fell by the wayside.

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Post June 10, 2020 Contact Us Solving Water Challenges in Disadvantaged Communities

Equitable Water Access: Information & Resources
Learn about equitable water access and find helpful articles, book recommendations, reports and more

Some people in California and across the West struggle to access safe, reliable and affordable water to meet their everyday needs for drinking, cooking and sanitation. In some cases, people are left without water as wells run dry in the midst of drought, or have little to no access at all to running water. Communities of color are most often burdened by these challenges.

The Water Education Foundation has put together a list of resources and background information to keep you informed about issues of water equity in California and the West.

Do you have a related resource to share for this page? Get in touch with our Programs and Communication Manager Sarah Angulo.

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Publication August 6, 2020
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  • Topic: Water Equity
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