In fact, nearly a million Californians lack access to safe drinking water because they receive water from systems that do not meet water quality standards. The State Water Board needs to better ensure that its staff and its contracted providers do not duplicate each other’s outreach efforts.Ĭalifornia is one of the most prosperous states in the country, and yet, fundamental inequities still exist, including access to safe drinking water.Although the State Water Board provides water systems with technical assistance to plan their improvements and apply for funds, it has not adequately monitored the performance of the technical assistance providers with which it contracts.The State Water Board has not established performance goals or metrics related to its cumbersome application process.Over the past five years, the average length of time for water systems to complete their applications and receive funding nearly doubled, from 17 months to 33 months.The State Water Board has not prioritized the processing of water systems’ funding applications so that the systems can improve their water quality.Hundreds of additional water systems are currently at risk of failing.More than 150 of these systems have been failing for at least five years.

More than 370 of the State’s water systems, serving nearly a million Californians, exceed the maximum contaminant levels for substances that are harmful to human health.Our audit of the State Water Board’s efforts to help provide Californians with safe drinking water highlighted the following: Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience program Selected Abbreviations Used in This Report DWSRF Further, the board needs to develop a plan to ensure that its staff and its contracted providers do not duplicate their outreach efforts, thus wasting limited resources. However, it has yet to implement metrics to gauge the overall performance of these providers and to ensure that the water systems receive timely assistance. More importantly, delays increase the likelihood of negative health outcomes for Californians served by the failing water systems.īecause failing water systems often lack the expertise to plan and implement water improvement projects, the State Water Board provides them access to contracted technical assistance providers. The longer the board takes to fund projects, the more expensive those projects become. The State Water Board’s lack of goals and metrics for its application process has likely contributed to this lengthening time frame and has inhibited the board’s ability to identify aspects of its review process that it could improve. In fact, the time necessary for water systems to complete applications for funding and for the State Water Board to approve and award that funding nearly doubled from 17 months in 2017 to 33 months in 2021. Nonetheless, the board has generally demonstrated a lack of urgency in providing this critical assistance. The State Water Board has funding available to help these failing systems improve the quality of their drinking water. More than two‑thirds of these systems are located in disadvantaged communities with significant financial need. The State Water Board reported that more than 370 such systems, providing water to more than 920,000 people, were not meeting water quality standards as of December 2021. Nearly a million Californians face possible long-term, negative health outcomes-including an increased risk of liver and kidney problems, as well as cancer-because they receive unsafe drinking water from a failing water system. Our audit of the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) focused on the board’s efforts to help provide Californians with safe drinking water. It Lacks the Urgency Necessary to Ensure That Failing Water Systems Receive Needed Assistance in a Timely Manner

A timely manner