The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund was established as part of Senate Bill 200, signed into law in July 2019. The fund provides up to $130 million per year to assist struggling water systems sustainably and affordably provide safe drinking water to their customers. On May 5, the Board adopted a Policy that guides how this fund is administered.
Tuesday,
the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRB) approved the 2020-21 Fund Expenditure Plan, part of this 10-year effort to improve access to healthy drinking water that prioritizes up to $130 million to numerous projects over the next 12 months.
Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) Program will now be able to undertake several initiatives aimed at ensuring safe and reliable drinking water across the state. Assisted by the 19-member SAFER Advisory Group composed of stakeholders and community members, the State Water Board is preparing a comprehensive needs analysis and establishing project priorities. These funds will address community and school water systems that are out of compliance with health standards, assist disadvantaged communities throughout the state that lack access to safe drinking water, tackle contaminated private wells and state small water systems, and accelerate consolidations for water systems that are at-risk of failing to provide safe drinking water and out of compliance for contaminants and other water quality issues.
For additional information, c
ontact Blair Robertson with the SWRCB at Blair.Robertson@waterboards.ca.gov #SafeandAffordableDrinkingWaterFund