Newsletter, May 2012: State promotes “toilet to tap”

Dear RRWPC Supporter:

State water shortages motivate promotion of “toilet to tap”…..
In their concern about future water shortages expected from global warming and rapidly diminishing water resources, especially in Southern California, California officials are fast tracking legislation that will reuse vast amounts of treated wastewater.

Rather than focusing on stringent water conservation policies, a cheaper and much safer approach, State officials are focusing on potable and non-potable reuse of treated sewage. They want to discharge it into in our drinking water supplies and apply much larger amounts to our agricultural fields and urban landscapes. It is unclear at this point whether our waterways will be adequately protected from the runoff of massive applications. There will be very limited public review of these practices and in light of heavy cutbacks of regulatory staff, it is questionable that oversight of human and environmental health will be adequate.