Jiselle, D., & Vaughan, M. (2020, September 24). Drinking water is contaminated in rural California. Why is it taking so long to fix? Retrieved November 18, 2020, from https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article244917932.html

For local fresno resident jovita she hasn’t had drinkable tap water for over four years. What had started as a temporary contamination, had turned into an obsolete source of water. It required her landlord to drill a new well, which caused her rent to increase by $100. Yet it still pumps total coliforms and is unsafe for drinking use, making bottled water the only option despite expense. This brought gavin newsomes attention when he toured tombstone fresno, an area with millions of californians lacking useable drinking water. After historical neglect of tackling the situation by the state, newsome signed the safe and affordable water fund establishing a fund of 1.4 billion over 10 years. As of now the agency in charge has written internal policies, built data bases, interactive maps of contaminated wells, and hired/trained staff. Although there has been much progress in making more sources readily available, the poor community has trouble coming up with non costly solutions to their dilemma. Many residents are advocates of them building their own water source, but an extra $50 a month is a large wager for many residing in tombstone. Overall, they have received some help they are still receiving drums of water at no cost, but no hope of a permanent source. Which brings up concern for other communities like tombstone. 

 

The neglect to poorer communties/smaller water sources tends to be a pattern within most drinking water articles. It just really goes to show the ordinance of who gets the most and best attention from the state, and government. Richer communities get the better care, while poorer communities get forsaken and worsen over time due to their abandonment. But it also shows the paradox that humans have placed, as water quality has far more factors than it did on pangea. Over the thousands of years we have resided on earth, water quality has deteriorated as a byproduct of our success. But only those who can afford will have access to the basic human right, while its a 1 in 8 billion chance you will be born into a family that has such commodities. This article relates to environmental science because of its link to the creation of the safe affordable water fund, a project funded specifically for environmental research to find/create feasible water sources. Additionally, california is often looking for new sources of water, or ways to utilize our current resources for more widespread use.