It’s time to step up and fix our drinking water crisis

Editor, I am a farmer. I am no politician, but I understand enough about California politics to know that at the end of a legislative session anything can happen — and that whatever comes down from this legislature will not be good for farmers or Central Valley communities.

With one week left until the legislature adjourns and Governor Brown effectively becomes a lame duck, there is one issue on the table that impacts all of us — safe drinking water.

If there’s one thing I know with absolute certainty, it is that water is worth fighting for. Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental right, but lawmakers and agencies have failed to deliver on this promise. There are over 1 million people in California who do not have clean drinking water, and Tulare County is ground zero.

But lawmakers have a chance to fix this. A bipartisan proposal by Senators Monning (D – Carmel) and Vidak (R – Hanford) offers a real solution that will fund water treatment facilities and other drinking water projects in disadvantaged communities, such as those in the Central Valley.

Funds would be raised from two sources — a mandatory fee paid by farmers and dairies and a voluntary fee on residential water users of no more than $1 per month.

The fact is, this is a statewide problem that requires a statewide solution.

The State Water Resources Control Board is attacking individual farmers with orders to provide drinking water to affected communities. Yes, farming practices of the past may have resulted in nitrates reaching the groundwater, but a preponderance of contaminants are naturally occurring or not agriculture-related at all.

Farmers are not a bank account for unlimited withdrawals. That well will surely run dry, and the issue will continue to persist.

It’s time the state address this crisis once and for all. It’s time for Sacramento to consider the needs of the Central Valley. It’s time that lawmakers force the State Water Resources Control Board to do its job and stop coming after farmers.

I like new fees as little as the next person, but I’m willing to step up for my community. I hope our state representatives will do the same.

Matt Leider Porterville