Nearly a Million Californians Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water

Our audit of the State Water Board’s efforts to help provide Californians with safe drinking water highlighted the following:

• More than 370 of the State’s water systems, serving nearly a million Californians, exceed the maximum contaminant levels for substances that are harmful to human health.
• More than 150 of these systems have been failing for at least five years.
• Hundreds of additional water systems are currently at risk of failing.
• The State Water Board has not prioritized the processing of water systems’ funding applications so that the systems can improve their water quality.
• Over the past five years, the average length of time for water systems to complete their applications and receive funding nearly doubled, from 17 months to 33 months.
• The State Water Board has not established performance goals or metrics related to its cumbersome application process.
• Although the State Water Board provides water systems with technical assistance to plan their improvements and apply for funds, it has not adequately monitored the performance of the technical assistance providers with which it contracts.
• The State Water Board needs to better ensure that its staff and its contracted providers do not duplicate each other’s outreach efforts.