‘Brown Water for Brown People’: Making Sense of California’s Drinking Water Crisis

You don't even have to be fair-skinned to surprise someone. Being part-Filipino and part-Mexican, many perceive me as Indian. It surprises many Hispanics that I speak Spanish.

The politicians in California have a vision problem, they've put on Trump Focused glasses. By some media reports California has filed over 62 lawsuits against the Trump administration - that's almost one suit every two weeks. Yet, we have communities without drinking water, families without homes, cities in gridlock and a complex climate-change inferno. Sacramento should stop wasting energy, time and resources on fighting the Feds and start paying attention to our State's dire emergnecies.

I’d appreciate seeing a deep dive into the corrupt POM “Wonderful” billionaires that are draining our agricultural lands dry here in San Luis Obispo County and Kern County. I’m sure more areas are affected by their greed. The Resnick’s abuses are myriad.

Where does it say that "brown" water is not potable?

“Clean water flows toward power and money.” Same for clean air and clean soil. All resources in our country are distributed according to social class. Has never changed. The public health of our citizens demonstrates that reality. The social determinants of health (race, gender, class, education, etc.) still dictate the quality of your water and air and soil.

I work on agriculture pollution in California's drinking water and on water issues in far Northern California's reservations, and the fact is failure to regulate industry, and protect water from contaminants like e.Coli, selenium, nitrates, and pesticides, and too many diversions. is why our water is so polluted. The state estimates that the Central Valley's ground water and rivers will be unusable for even agriculture use within 50 years due to agriculture pollution. The Central Valley's ground and surface water feeds the state water project and some of the mentioned communities, along with the Bay Area, and millions of people's drinking water. The state does nothing about the pollution from large agriculture corporations like the Westlands Water District and is even set to approve more toxic pollution into the state's water supply this week. I have been at meetings where the water board (our EPA) has said that their responsibility is only to provide water, and bottled water rather than source water protection, is allowed. The head of oil companies and massive farms present the"solutions" to our crisis at regulatory meetings. The system is rigged and Governor Newsom claims he can not regulate agriculture better, because the farm workers need jobs. He is really in the pocket of industry, or he would not deny them clean water.

A question: could sanitary and water issues have something to do with the repeated contamination of California crops?

It’s interesting how language influences perception, and even treatment. For example, the unintended implication of this statement is that those who are brown or black have “unfair” or undesirable skin tones: “… and they were relieved that I could speak Spanish fluently. (It’s not always obvious: I’m very guero — fair-skinned.)”

Thanks for exposing the hypocrisy of a chest-pounding, finger-pointing liberal state (California). Hey Governor, keep telling everyone else what’s wrong and make sure you sign another self-promoting deal with a big time athlete.

A clear, well written, needed article which can contribute to challenging the ongoing, empowered state of willful blindness, deafness, indifference, ignorance and silence about America’s ongoing WE-THEY discriminatory legacy, and its ranges of implications and outcomes. “Tracing the Path of California’s Water,” the article heading in the print copy of the NYT, will hopefully stimulate follow-up articles which explore and document “Water Policymaker Unaccountability in California:People & Agencies.” In addition to documenting the interacting conditions which enable this ummenschlich situation to begin, and to be sustained, by the complicity of...there is also the need to note the range of enabling-“complacents.”

A few years back, I was involved in some projects in the Porterville area which is in the San Joaquin Valley and a project in the Napa Valley. The poverty and the lack of basic utilities was very apparent in the Porterville area. What I found truly appalling was the severe poverty and misery hidden a few blocks off of the tourist areas of the Napa Valley. You didn't have to scratch the surface to observe the dilapidated housing, the high rate of teen pregnancy and the rampant public use of drugs. What I realized was that the tourist brochures sure did a good job of hiding the misery of the farm workers and further elevating the good life of drinking and living the wine style life.

California’s large, investor-owned water utilities have an excellent record of service at a cost that keeps the systems safe and is affordable to customers. They do not discriminate and serve customers of all races, locations and income. The economies of scale they bring to bear can help the neglected systems discussed in this excellent story. Sadly, often the activists who, rightly, advocate to address these problems are often blinded by ideology from recruiting these private systems to help solve this problem. Unfortunately, purity of politics may prevent purity of water from reaching the homes of those who most need it. California’s private water companies are the most regulated businesses anywhere in the country. Have an open mind, give them a chance and they can tackle this problem.

This kind of reporting makes me proud to be a subscriber.