Water systems in California: Ownership, geography, and affordability

Utilities Policy (Elsevier) | August 10th, 2021

This study asks whether different types of water systems serve different types of communities and differ with respect to affordability. Using 2017 data for California we

This study asks whether different types of water systems serve different types of communities and differ with respect to affordability. Using 2017 data for California we match service area boundaries with census income data and rate structures to compare the geography, income distribution and affordability of water rates within communities served by systems of different ownership types. We find that for-profit and publicly owned systems serve communities of similar income distributions, while not-for-profit mutual water companies serve higher-income communities. Regulated privately-owned systems charge more for water while providing more low-income assistance and shutting off fewer households than publicly owned systems.

When Decentralization Fails: Governance and Inequity in California’s Drinking Water System

Western Political Science Association | April 4th, 2019

In the United States, there are more than 151,000 drinking water systems which operate at a variety of decision-making scales and under various governance and own

In the United States, there are more than 151,000 drinking water systems which operate at a variety of decision-making scales and under various governance and ownership structures (US EPA, 2015). This extreme level of decentralization and fragmentation may allow for local control and flexibility, but it has not guaranteed safe drinking water for all (Hughes & Mullin, 2017; Pannu, 2012). In California alone, there are more than a million people each year receiving unsafe drinking-water. To further our understanding of how system governance contributes to these drinking water disparities, we compile and analyze a novel dataset including all 2,886 of California’s active Community Water Systems and their health-based Safe Drinking Water Act violations (2012-2018) in order to answer two important questions: 1) how is California drinking water governance organized at the system level? 2) Do certain types of governance structures out-perform or under-perform compared to others? We find that while control variables such as population size remain most determinative of system performance, there are significant differences in SDWA compliance between distinct governance arrangements. These findings highlight the important role that governance, in its broader conception, plays in contributing to SDWA noncompliance and leads us to argue that determining the role of governance in creating disparities, therefore, is an important prerequisite to understanding how different arrangement might best address them.

Wildfire Induces Changes in Receiving Waters: A Review With Considerations for Water Quality Management

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | September 15th, 2022

Wildfires have increased in frequency in many ecosystems, with implications for human health and the environment, including water quality. Increased fire frequency and ur

Wildfires have increased in frequency in many ecosystems, with implications for human health and the environment, including water quality. Increased fire frequency and urbanization also raise the prospect of fires burning into urban areas, mobilizing pollutants few have considered to date. As a result, water quality managers lack information to anticipate, respond to and potentially mitigate wildfire impacts. Here, we reviewed the scientific literature to assess wildfire effects on response endpoints of a conceptual model linking fire to water quality, quantifying response directionality, magnitude and duration. Physically, water yield, sediments, and temperature all increased post-fire. Chemically, nutrients, ions, organic chemicals, and metals increased in burned watersheds, sometimes by orders of magnitude over pre-fire or reference conditions. In select cases, post-fire concentrations exceeded aquatic life criteria or drinking water standards, at times even in the finished drinking water. Biological assemblages commonly declined after post-fire runoff events. The duration of effects was less than 5 yr for most endpoints (e.g., metals) on average following fire, although effects did extend 15 yr or more in some individual cases. We found only a few studies on pollutants mobilized from wildfire impacted urban areas with benzene contamination in drinking water and high metal concentrations in ash prominent exceptions. Overall, this review provides a resource for understanding wildfire impacts on water quality endpoints, with the goal of informing the response of managers and other decision makers to this growing problem.