MOSS LANDING, Calif. — Like many Moss Landing residents, Kelly Hatten doesn’t trust the water that comes out of her tap.
“Right now, water is a threat in my house,” Hatten said, standing outside his home surrounded by vegetable gardens.
CA PROPS: Everything you need to know about measures on minimum wage, marriage equality and more
Hatten lives in one of many homes in this farming community that get their water from a well.
“You can’t see it visually. Our tap water is clear. It looks drinkable, but it’s not safe to drink,” she explained.
The State Water Resources Control Board estimates that approximately 400 water systems in California do not meet the state’s requirements for safe drinking water, impacting an estimated 771,000 residents.
Proposition 4 on the November ballot would provide $1.9 billion for drinking water improvements across the state, primarily in low-income areas like Moss Landing.
The $10 billion statewide package would also provide $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and $1.2 billion to protect coastal communities from rising sea levels.
“Wetlands act like sponges, draining water at high tide,” said David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, overlooking the wetlands in Albany between San Francisco Bay and Interstate 580. It absorbs water and slowly releases water.”
Related: What is Prop 3? An overview of the CA’s measures aimed at protecting everyone’s right to marriage
“If that wetland wasn’t here, we would have huge waves crashing over the edge and eroding the levee that the highway runs through, creating a huge threat to people over time,” said Proposition 4 supporter. one Lewis added.
Funds from this measure would also raise the level of sea walls in non-swamp areas, such as San Francisco’s waterfront.
“With this climate bond, there will be a huge down payment to start this work,” Lewis explained.
But some watchdog groups say that’s a down payment California can’t afford.
“Government debt is borrowed money and no one seems to have to pay it, but when the government says we don’t have the money for it, and we don’t have the money for it, why? One is the bond, which is paying $8 billion in principal and interest on old debt approved by previous voters,” said Susan Shelley of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
Shelley said the state doesn’t have much of a track record of getting results from bond funds.
She cited a $9 billion bond approved in 2008 to build California’s high-speed rail system.
Sixteen years have passed and the system is still not working.
The other is a $7.5 billion bond approved in 2014 to build more dams.
Ten years later, no new dams have been built due to strict regulations and permits.
“There is not a lot of transparency in how the money is actually used after the grant is given, so while we can monitor bonds, once the grant is given, the monitoring stops; How the money will actually be spent is less clear,” Shelley said. .
Save the Bay says that’s not the case among the 37 remediation projects the group has identified as shovel-ready.
“If this bond is approved, we expect many of these projects to be funded and completed within the next three to four years, as many of these projects have already been planned, permitted and approved. “We just need funding to run it,” he explained. Lewis.
Pedro Enriquez of the Community Water Center said funds from Proposition 4 could be used to fill a funding gap for a project that will provide clean drinking water to 240 residents of Pajaro, Monterey County.
“Construction will cost about $40 million, but the state can only fulfill about $20 million of that, so we need additional funding to fill that gap,” Enriquez said.
The Community Water Center tracks the quality of drinking water systems across the state, including in Moss Landing, where soil contamination is severe.
The main pollutant is nitrates, which result from overuse of fertilizers. However, other harmful chemicals are also present, such as chromium-6 and the pesticide additive 1,2,3-trichloropropane.
These chemicals are suspected of causing cancer as well as liver and kidney problems.
“When you drink well water, cook with well water, or use well water for drinking, all of these contaminants have serious health effects and are critical to public health,” said Mayra Hernandez, advocacy manager at the Community Water Center. “It’s a big risk.”
The state pays for weekly deliveries of bottled water to residents, but work is underway to connect residents to the public water system.
That day can’t come soon enough for Hatten, who not only doesn’t drink tap water or cook with water, but also fears giving her baby a bath.
“When giving your baby a bath, don’t put your head under the water, as tap water can be life-threatening to your child,” Hatten says.
Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.
