'We've been neglectful, and it's outrageous.' Newsom signs clean water bill in Fresno County
TOMBSTONE TERRITORY -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed into law the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund bill in the tiny Fresno County community of Tombstone Territory — where residents rely on bottled water because the water from their private wells is contaminated.
Starting next year, Senate Bill 200 will provide $130 million annually to clean up drinking water in California communities like Tombstone that lack access to safe water.
Newsom on Wednesday chatted with a small group of Tombstone residents about their struggles with failed wells and contaminated water. Also attending the event were civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta, Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, who authored the bill, Assemblymember Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, and Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, about their efforts to get the bill through the Legislature.
After he signed the bill, residents chanted “si se peude,” “si se pudo” and sang the Spanish folk song “De Colores.”
Read more: https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/water-and-drought/article233039957.html