3 Million Californians Are Going Thirsty! Sign This Petition!
by Admin · Published · Updated
Three million in CA going thirsty. Why isn’t this an emergency? (No subject)
Tim Molina, Courage Campaign
You replied on 9/17/2015 5:22 PM.
Right now in California, 3 million people are without reliable access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water. THREE MILLION. That’s more people than ALL of the City of Los Angeles.(1)
The situation is beyond dire, and the stories are heartbreaking. A pastor in East Porterville, CA — a town of 7,000 — says that he can see the desperation on people’s faces, especially children. On one occasion, a 5-year-old child screamed at the sight of an emergency-water cistern because he’d never seen so much water in one place. Another family took water from a local duck pond to use as DRINKING water.(2) A DUCK POND filled with bacteria and chemicals that could make them sick.
Thousands of stories like this are happening every day. Californians from across the state can relate to these stories, because a life without water is their reality. In California — the 8th largest economy in the world — this situation is simply unacceptable. And our state leaders must do something about it.
This tragedy is a long time coming. For years, California has operated with a broken, convoluted, and inefficient water system. In many places, wells are completely tapped out and faucets spit dirt in thousands of households.(3) In addition to dry wells, more than one third of California’s groundwater is contaminated, which accounts for most of the people without clean water. If left untreated, a contaminated aquifer may spread to surrounding basins, impacting more and more people.
This crisis has caused mayhem in rural neighborhoods, as water is hauled from communities with sustainable water supplies to drought-stricken areas just miles away. In one instance, angry residents blocked water trucks and threw rocks at them.(4) And now — due to rising inequality, climate change, and big industries’ over-pumping and poisoning of groundwater — it’s the poorest Californians who suffer the most.
Patty, how can we sit back and watch this happen in America, let alone in California?!
JOIN US and SumOfUs.org to stand up for the 3 million Californians without access to water by demanding our state leaders provide REAL drought relief NOW.
In 2012, Gov. Brown even signed a law establishing that water is a human right! He also allocated funds for drought relief last year. But get this, over $320 MILLION of those funds — intended to provide water, protect wells from contamination and upgrade outdated water systems — have been unspent, leaving millions of families desperate and without water.(5)
Our water is precious and there are many worthy uses for it. But one use must be prioritized over all else — ensuring every Californian has enough water for basic necessities: eating, drinking, and cleaning themselves.
With summer temperatures rising — including temperatures beyond 100 degrees in Tulare County, one of the many places without water — people simply cannot wait any longer for water.
Thank you for standing up for our fellow Californians,
Tim, along with Annie, Eddie, Emma, Laura, Lindsay, Moonyoung, Paul, and Scottie (the Courage team)
1. http://www.cleanwateraction.org/page/protecting-communities-water-supplies
2. http://www.npr.org/2015/06/29/418490432/residents-grow-more-desperate-without-water-in-california-town
3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/23/california-drought-water_n_5703273.html
4. http://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article28341454.html
5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/california-drought_n_7544960.html
