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State Water Board exec highlights SAFER gains, warns domestic-well challenge remains
Summary
State Water Resources Control Board Executive Director Eric Oppenheimer told the SAFER advisory group the program has reduced the number of Californians served by failing water systems from about 1.6 million in 2019 to roughly 800,000, while cautioning that domestic wells and other distributed problems remain a major challenge.
State Water Resources Control Board Executive Director Eric Oppenheimer opened the SAFER advisory group meeting by telling new and returning members the board has made measurable progress delivering safe drinking water but faces “a huge amount of work” ahead.
Oppenheimer said the program began in 2019 with about 1.6 million Californians receiving water from systems the board considered failing. “At the halfway point, we’ve gotten that number down to about 800,000 people,” he said. “It’s not a luxury, it’s a right.”
The board has used the SAFER program and related funding to approve more than $1 billion in drinking‑water grants for disadvantaged communities, Oppenheimer said, and has committed support for regional domestic‑well testing and emergency…
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