Safe Water for All

[Gabriela Gaspar]

The state of California has passed several bills into law that will provide safe drinking water to its population. A great preoccupation began to arise when it was found that the water that runs through the state is severely contaminated with arsenic, nitrate, E. coli bacterias and other contaminants. This water was consumed without any treatment by several low-income rural communities across the state, and they had no idea of the level of contamination they were exposed to.

Governor Jerry Brown declared that "clean drinking water is a basic human right."And he is right. But as we all have already noticed, water is becoming a scarce resource, not to mention potable water. The United States has been facing challenges not only in the development of new, clean, and sustainable energy sources, but also in the search for ways to tackle the iminent problem of water shortage.

 

Some of the measures that these laws will take in order to ensure good quality water to the population is:providing 100 percent grants to "severely disadvantaged communities" so they can have access to water infrastructure improvement projects; translating drinking water alerts in communities with more than 10 percent of the population speaking a second language; decreasing the time it takes for projects to receive funds from the government; ensuring that state public health laws conform with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and many others.

 

Advocates affirm that through these laws, more awareness will be created among the population, and more enforcement will be provided by the government, non-profit organizations and agencies that work to ensure the laws are being fulfilled. But most importantly, they have hopes that these laws will greatly benefit general public health.

 

Last semester I watched the documentary "Blue Gold: World Water Wars" and I was amazed to see how water has become such a political and economical issue. According to the documentary, the future wars will be fought over clean water, and if nothing is done today, potable water may become a luxury item in the near future for Americans and for the rest of the world. As of today, according to surveys done in California, "low-income Californians who have access only to polluted water spend between 4 and 10 percent of their household income on bottled water for cooking and drinking."

 

Following the supply theory that says that the price of a good or service is inversely proportional to the amount supplied, it becomes clear that the less clean water we have available, the more we will end up paying for it. Privatization also plays a huge role in the issue. Some countries are forced by corporations to privatize their water resources for greater profits, while the population is left without another option but to spend a great amount of money in order to have drinkable water. But... wasn't clean drinking water a basic human right?

 

It is in theory, but that is not how reality goes. For this reason, these California laws serve as a great example of how lobbying for our rights can be effective. It was never easy, it will never be, because it is a game of interests, but it proves how "changing the world around you" can influence a change in the whole world. If the example of California was followed by other states, more people would be aware of the dangers they are under by consuming water that is not safe - and consumption is not only drinking, but bathing, preparing and cooking food as well.

 

And hopefully, even though it is through baby steps, the people will not let go of a basic necessity that should never be treated as a luxury.

 

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/13/california-clean-drinking-...

 

For those who are interested, here is the link to the "Blue Gold" documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLp1ZnjsIXc