Page 6 - Yucaipa Valley Water District - Board Workshop

approve a tax that would have helped clean up contamination, said Meral, Proposition 3’s
author.

“They haven’t solved safe drinking water,” Meral said.

A 2018 McClatchy investigation found that 360,000 Californians are served by water
systems that violate state standards for nitrates, arsenic, uranium and other pollutants.

Jason Phillips, CEO of the Friant Water Authority said the bond’s failure affects more
than the farmers who get water from the Friant-Kern Canal. Proposition 3’s defeat also
hurts several disadvantaged communities in the area, he said.

“Not having this funding is going to bring (on) the water crisis that is pending a lot faster,”
he said.

Phillips’ water district may end up asking the federal government to fund the canal repairs
because state lawmakers are unlikely to pay, he said.

Jay Ziegler of the Nature Conservancy, which supported the bond, said the loss of $3
billion that the initiative would have set aside for water quality and habitat projects was a
blow to California’s ecosystem restoration goals.

“I think there’s a very real and immediate impact that comes with this,” Ziegler said.

Source: https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article221317605.html

Yucaipa Valley Water District - November 13, 2018 - Page 6 of 166