The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Office of the Governor
State Capital Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160
RE: Support AB 1242 (Ruskin-Jones)
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
I am writing to you on behalf of [your organization] to convey my support for AB 1242 (Ruskin-Jones). I am aware of the many water challenges facing California. Many of these challenges have a real impact on California’s most vulnerable and poorest communities of the state. With water now among the top priorities for California legislators and your office, I want to bring your attention to the millions of Californians who lack access to clean, safe and affordable drinking water and to urge you to sign AB1242.
Assuring access to safe, affordable water is as important to California’s future as solving the Delta crisis. Access to safe, affordable water for basic human needs is a pre-requisite for a strong economy, healthy environment, and healthy communities. Without such a basic necessity, workers miss more days of work, families spend more time and create higher bills in the healthcare system, and our educational system is overburdened dealing with the developmental and behavior problems related to exposure to contaminated water.
From 1997 through 2001, nitrates were detected above regulatory standards in the drinking water supplies of more than 11.2million Californians and the drinking water of 8.5 million Californians was subjected to five or more violations of the standard permitted. Unfortunately, nitrates are not the only threat to community access to potable water. Pesticides, industrial chemicals, and some naturally occurring chemicals in high concentrations are also responsible for putting families at risk.
Even with bottled water as an alternative source, families are being forced to cook, wash dishes, and bathe their children in water they know is making their families sick. Further, bottled water is a poor substitute for safe, affordable, potable water. It is not economical. Families are paying up to 1,000 times more for bottled water and sometimes forgoing other necessities. The use of bottled water also creates a problem for California’s waste stream.
Access to clean, safe and affordable water is a fundamental human right essential to our health, the environment and the economy. It is unconscionable that in a state as wealthy as California, families that cannot afford to purchase bottled water have no choice but to serve their families contaminated water. No family should be forced to make the heart-wrenching choices forced upon families that cannot afford such an essential resource.
I know that there is existing state law that establishes access to safe, affordable drinking water for all Californians. Existing statute is in the Public Utilities Code and the Health Code. Unfortunately, those agencies do not have all of the authority necessary to make this a reality. AB 1242 will make it clear to all state agencies that have any relevant authority that they have a responsibility to work together with the PUC and the Department of Public Health to ensure that everyone has access to safe, affordable water.
AB 1242 does so by establishing a right to water for basic human needs as a policy of the state of California, and requiring that State Agencies, specifically water agencies, comply. AB 1242 will ensure that future regulations, grant programs, and agency practices are designed to move California forward toward a day when everyone in California can safely fill a glass of water from their tap and drink it without fear of becoming sick.
Please show your understanding of California’s water challenges by signing AB 1242 (Ruskin) and helping us to ensure that someday, every Californian will be able to have access to clean, safe and affordable water.
Sincerely,