Over one million Californians do not have access to clean drinking water with approximately half in the Central Valley of California. Covering an area of 20,000 square miles, 4.2 million people live in the Central Valley and it remains one of the poorest areas in California. One in five residents in California’s Central Valley live in poverty according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Over half of these residents are of non-white ethnicities including those of Hispanic/Latino, Black/African, and Asian dissent. One fourth of the United States’ food production comes from the agriculture in Central Valley. This concentration of agriculture contaminates surface and groundwater used for drinking with fertilizers and pesticides. Historical industrial pollution and natural geology also contribute to harmful chemicals in the drinking water. The top five contaminants are arsenic, nitrate, uranium, total trihalomethanes, and halocetic acids. Also, 1,2,3- Tricholoropropane (1,2,3- TCP) from a now banned soil fumigant is of particular concern for a number of municipalities in the Central Valley. While previous literature has focused on the clear economic and ethnic disparities in clean drinking water access for disadvantaged communities in California, there is a gap in overlaying this with health data. The Central Valley has higher incidences of thyroid cancer, premature death rates, birth defects, and score lowest on county health ratings. From geospatial and statistical analysis of agriculture, water, contaminants, health, and socio-economic data, there is clear overlap between disadvantaged communities and health disparities. These maps and analysis will help inform the public and policy leaders of the types of health-related concerns in relation to water quality in the Central Valley and where to target interventions.

Water, health, and environmental justice in California’s Central Valley: Geospatial analysis of water contamination and health disparities

2019 Fall National Meeting

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