This page was created by Gwen Connor.
Systematic Discrimination through Government Inaction
The SDWA made it the government's responsibility to regulate the nation’s drinking water and ensure public safety. Clearly, this has not been enforced in every part of the United States. This act says that it applies to all community water systems, which means that every water system to cover more than 25 people is protected. There are many areas, especially in rural communities, that have water systems with less than 25 people. Research done in the San Joaquin Valley found that about 71% of those who live in “disadvantaged unincorporated communities” (DUCs), which means people who are low income and often people of color, have access to community water systems. But this doesn't necessarily mean that the water is clean or safe. This also means that 29% of the water that DUCs consume is unregulated. Many of the community water systems in the San Joaquin Valley don’t even intercept DUCs. And many rural/farming communities either don't overlap or only partially overlap with a community water system. 84% of DUCs served by out-of-compliance systems are people of color and low income communities. This research shows that the closeness of DUCs to safe drinking water and their exclusion from it is caused by institutional race and class discrimination. Given that multiple studies have shown the same result, it is becoming clear that the lack of clean water for some communities is not by pure chance.