Guest Commentary written by
Sean Bothwell
Sean Bothwell is executive director of California Coastkeeper Alliance.
Imagine turning on your tap and not being sure it’s safe to drink what comes out.
For one million Californians, this scenario is not hypothetical. In disadvantaged communities, including some in the Central Valley, families have been told for years to boil their tap water for safety or buy bottled water they cannot afford.
Their water systems consistently fail to meet safe drinking water standards. Yet no meaningful action has been taken to fix this known problem. Meanwhile, 30,000 miles of the state’s coastlines, lakes and rivers fail basic water quality standards.
How does a state at the forefront of environmental leadership fail to ensure clean, reliable water for its people?
The short answer: California is managing 21st century water challenges with 20th century technology under 19th century law. And state leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, continue promoting infrastructure projects designed for precipitation patterns that climate change is already erasing.
This year’s rapid snowpack loss is not an anomaly; it is a preview. Yet the state keeps pushing large-scale projects which can’t deliver water to farms or families without a reliable Sierra snowmelt. Instead of more dams and diversions, we need to shift attention and resources to a local approach rooted in our new reality.
California Coastkeeper Alliance’s Blueprint to Climate-Ready Water Policy is a practical guide for state policymakers, regulators and the next governor to set a course for a more resilient and sustainable water future. The blueprint is built on several clear imperatives.
Prioritize resilient local water supplies
Instead of spending tens of billions moving water around the state, California must prioritize investment in wastewater recycling, stormwater capture and water efficiency. These systems deliver water regardless of how long the snowpack sticks around.
These types of systems are proven, scalable and drought proof. The payoff extends beyond reliability: California’s water sector consumes 19% of the state’s electricity and 30% of its natural gas, driven largely by importing water into urban centers from faraway places. Prioritizing local water supplies reduces water insecurity in a cost-effective and affordable way, while cutting the emissions that accelerate climate change.
Strengthen and enforce water laws
The Trump administration’s rollbacks of the Clean Water Act have steadily eroded protections Californians have relied on since the 1970s. The most damaging change stripped federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of seasonal streams, leaving them open to pollution and development. In response, the state must fortify its own standards.
We need enforceable rules that restore fisheries and protect coastal communities. California must adopt specific standards to confront the pollution driving ocean acidification and the ecosystem collapse that follows. We need real investment in floodplain restoration, forest health and natural infrastructure that shields communities from billion-dollar climate disasters.
Fix system of water governance
California’s water bureaucracy is antiquated, inequitable and unaccountable. The appointment process for our state’s water leaders is outdated, prioritizing engineering expertise over science and equitable representation. This approach results in continued reliance on gray infrastructure and engineered solutions over more sustainable and resilient nature-based solutions and urban greening.
The result is a system where large water users — such as pistachio growers and data centers — get water on the cheap, while low-income communities subsidize their use.
We need reforms to address historical inequities and ensure those that demand more water pay for it. Environmental justice and tribal leadership must be involved in water planning from the start. And we must ensure polluters, not ratepayers or taxpayers, pay for cleaning up the water we drink and swim in.
Our economy and our communities depend on making the hard choices that will deliver clean, affordable water into the future. We will not get there by funding yesterday’s solutions and hoping the climate cooperates.
