The California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) has implemented a draft resolution to adopt the human right to water as a core value. Resolution No. 2016, which makes California the first state in the country to acknowledge this right to water through legislative enactment, establishes that every person should have safe, clean and affordable drinking water. The principles highlighted below acknowledge the role of the Board in preventing and correcting activities that contaminate drinking water sources and pose health-related dangers.
The resolutions require the Board, along with local water boards, to take into account the right to water in programs that impact the availability of drinking water sources. In order to effectuate the goals of clean and affordable water sources and wastewater treatment facilities for disadvantaged communities, the Board is mandated to collaborate with vested parties to collect information for the purpose of identifying communities that lack, or are at risk of lacking, adequate water for basic human functions. The Board’s Office of Sustainable Water Solution is also charged with furnishing assistance to disadvantaged communities to facilitate their development of sustainable approaches to securing water rights. The Board is directed to involve regional water boards in engaging with disadvantaged communities that lack an adequate and safe supply of water through outreach efforts or providing financial resources.
As part of enforcing the right to water, the Board is required to use performance criteria to rate its progress in achieving this goal and to devise strategies to make such information public. The Board is obligated to submit progress reports, to be later included in the annual performance report, that pinpoint successful policies that have contributed to the goal of recognizing the right to water for every person in the state. The Board is authorized to partner with other agencies, organizations and private enterprise to secure the right to water through its sanctioned programs. When offering a recommendation to the Board, members of the Board and regional board members are directed to explain how the right to water was taken into account when issuing their proposal. This includes meaningful consideration of existing policies and law that may impact water safety, availability and sustainability.
Contact Shane Coons at 949-333-0900 or visit his website at www.ShaneCoonsLaw.com to find out more about his practice.