CBS Sacramento 13, & CBS Broadcasting Inc. (2022, March 31). Report finds California has fifth-most polluted water in U.S. CBS News. Retrieved August 28, 2022, from https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/ca-water-pollution-report/ 

 

Though California is known as the “Golden State” and for its wealth, not everyone has access to clean/safe drinking water. Unfortunately, California actually has some of the highest levels of pollution in our water in the country. A non-profit organization ( The Environment Integrity Project ) discovered by observing rivers, streams, and ponds that California is the 5th most polluted country in the US. According to research, these bodies of water are so polluted that they don’t even meet the standards for drinking or other uses. Due to the pollution and chemicals in the water, natural environments get ruined which results in the inhabitants dying as well. This means that California is the third worst country in terms of fishing. The two factors for these issues are agricultural runoff and drought. It is recommended for the tests on the waterways and other bodies of water to improve as a way to help prevent this issue. However, this is only the case for California because not every state runs its waterways the way California does.

 

This article talked more about the rivers, streams, and other waterways than water systems for areas/people. This one also took me by surprise when it mentioned where California stood compared to the other states when it came to water quality, fishing, etc. It also talked about how a lot of regular-day things that happen in our society contribute to pollution in our water ( oil from cars and agricultural runoff ). I always knew that we were at fault for a lot of environmental issues on the earth but now I wonder if there’s a way to cut back from these habits or come up with new ones so pollution in water starts to decrease. I’m also curious to learn about water pollution and why it’s occurring in other states/areas.