What you need to know: Halfway through the state’s 10-year SAFER Program, the number of Californians who don’t have access to clean drinking water has been cut by more than half – down from 1.6 million in 2019 to 700,000 today.

SACRAMENTO - Five years after its launch, California’s landmark Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) drinking water program that’s largely funded by cap-and-trade dollars has made historic progress connecting people to clean, safe drinking water.

The SAFER Program has distributed more than $830 million in grants to disadvantaged communities – over two-and-a-half times the amount of grants provided during the five years prior. 

Today in Porterville, a community that has gotten connected to more clean drinking water, state officials announced that the number of people served by failing water systems has fallen from roughly 1.6 million to 700,000 – a net gain of 900,000 Californians who now have safe and affordable drinking water.

“When I took office, 1.6 million people didn’t have access to clean drinking water. We’re halfway through our SAFER program, and more than half of those people now have safe drinking water in their homes and schools. Connecting 900,000 people to water is a huge success, but we won’t let up until every single Californian gets access to this essential resource.” - Governor Gavin Newsom

How we got here

In 2019, during his first week in office, Governor Gavin Newsom highlighted the need for better drinking water solutions and proposed creating a dedicated funding source for drinking water projects in disadvantaged communities.

That same year, Governor Newsom signed legislation to establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, which has received over $600 million in cap-and-trade dollars.   

Connecting communities like Porterville to clean drinking water 

This morning, the State Water Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) joined a host of partners, including the City of Porterville, elected officials, advisory group members, community-based organizations and community members, at Porterville City Hall to share and celebrate the past five years of the program’s achievements. 

The City of Porterville exemplifies the experience of many towns that must contend with failing infrastructure amid extreme weather and climate change. For several years now, Porterville, in partnership with the state, has led local efforts to expand access to safe drinking water by consolidating neighboring water systems into its own single system by merging infrastructure and managerial know-how to bring about sustainable solutions for safe drinking water.
 
Since 2019, the SAFER program has provided over $15 million to Porterville, with an additional $5.5 million grant in process, for six consolidations benefiting over 900 people. Three of those consolidations have been completed. Statewide, there have been 142 consolidations benefiting over 100,000 people since 2019.

Here are more stories of SAFER projects completed and in progress