The Human Right to Water Starts to Flow in Sacramento

On April 26, 2011, the campaign for the human right to water in California overcame its first legislative hurdle. The new human-right-towater bill (AB 685) passed with an overwhelming margin out of the Water Parks and Wildlife Committee, and the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee passed four additional bills in this package. 

Legislators were visibly moved as 75 advocates of all ages and backgrounds, including some who traveled hundreds of miles, gave powerful testimony in support of each bill in the human-right-to-water legislative package. Rev. Lindi Ramsden also delivered 685 letters in support of AB 685 from Californians who could not be there. At noon, the water-justice mascot, "La Gotita," and more than 50 advocates for safe drinking water rallied by the capitol building, raising visibility for the water-justice movement.

Representatives of impacted California communities who testified at the bill hearings included Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe; Susana De Anda and Laurel Firestone of the Community Water Center, with Coachella and Tulare County residents; and Debbie Davis from the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, with Maywood residents. Reverend Lindi Ramsden of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of California (UULMCA) and Shelley Moskowitz of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, also testified in support of the legislation. 

In reaction to the news, UUSC President and CEO William F. Schulz said, "Although the committee's approval is just the beginning of the legislative process, it is a major first step that signals ever growing support for a human-right-to-water law in California. As we have seen on many occasions, what happens in California can have a dramatic ripple effect in states across the country."

If passes this legislative season, this package of bills will do the following:  

• Establish the human right to water in California (AB 685)*
• Require that public health notifications about water be made available in the languages the community speaks (AB 938)*
• Promote water-system consolidation for small communities to provide sustainable, affordable solutions where possible (AB 938)*
• Require that state water plan include provisions to provide everyone in California with safe drinking water (AB 1187)*
• Ensure access to funding to clean up contamination for disadvantaged communities (AB 221)*
• Require local municipalities to include a plan to provide services to island or fringe communities when they update their general plans (SB 244)

Debbie Davis, policy director for the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, said, "Today we have taken one step closer to the day when everyone in California has access to safe, affordable water to bathe in, cook with, and drink."

These developments mark the beginning of a new campaign for the human right to water — and more than 11.5 million Californians are depending on our victory for access to safe, sufficient, affordable water!

To learn more about this campaign, please visit UULMCA's website.  

* Passed out of committee on April 26, 2011.