Protecting & Conserving California's Water

With all that’s happening right now, it can be difficult to pay attention to  anything other than the news of the day. I’m focused on groundwater; how we use it – and use too much; how we protect it from pollution – or don’t; and how we can ensure that it’s available when we need it. And even on a day when we’re not focused on a pandemic, groundwater can be easy to forgot about -- it's our invisible resource.

Those of you reading the New York Times will have seen the recent story on spiking Fentanyl deaths across America.

America’s opioid epidemic is drawing public attention to a less-considered side effect of mushrooming dependence on prescription medications: water pollution by pharmaceuticals. And that’s where we at Clean Water Action come in.

Yesterday, the State Water Resources Control Board voted to create a new legal limit on 1,2,3-Trichloroproane (TCP), a man-made, carcinogenic drinking water contaminant found across California. This is the culmination of years of work from Clean Water Action members like you, holding Shell Oil and Dow Chemical accountable for their failure to put public health above their profits, when they first learned of the dangers of TCP.

Now comes the hard work as water agencies work to comply with the new rule.