Susana de Anda

Susana de Anda

Co-Executive Director and Co-Director, Community Water Center

How big is the CWC?

There’s a lot to be done in terms of continuing to bring awareness of the work that we do. We’ve been very successful in highlighting the issue and different solutions with various communication platforms.

Moving forward, we definitely want to expand to various allies that we don’t always consider, folks that might not already be on our side, per se. But at the end of the day, I believe that all humans need to have clean drinking water; so anyone can be a potential ally.

I think that a lot of people who know our work are mainly people working around water, or food, things like that. We’ve done a lot of presentations with a number of different faculties but again, it’s a constant communication. You have to continue to elevate the work in different ways, in different platforms, so that people are informed.

I’ve been working on water for the last 10 years. Water is my life. But this year there are a lot of big issues that are going on— the water bond on the November ballot… We had a bunch of victories this year.

We’re an organization that thinks outside the box. And we need to in order to create change. In order to address drought, which has been here for some time, we really do want to think outside the box and do a lot of good work.

Could you please tell us a little bit more about your work with The Community Water Center (CWC)?

I’m Susana de Anda. I’m the co-founder and co-director of Community Water Center. CWC is a community non-profit association dedicated to ensuring that all Californians have access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water. The CWC, we like to call it “El Centro”, is here because of a huge crisis. We exist because of a huge crisis in California.

Back in 2005, I was hired right out of college as a community organizer for the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment. My co-director now, back then, she was the director of the Rural Water Poverty Project. She had been at this previous organization for some time already and she had been doing a lot of research around water and the reality that people around here didn’t have safe drinking water. But most importantly, didn’t even have access to proper information to understand the quality. So I was hired on to be an organizer.

I worked on multiple campaigns. It was the water campaign that was frankly mind-boggling. I would read the stories and we hit the ground running. We went to the first community of Coleville, where people were receiving, 3 months out of the year, high levels of nitrates in their drinking water because they were moved from canal water to well water, which had high levels of nitrates. But if they went back to the canal water, there was prochlorate and I think trihalomethanes, which are a byproduct of chlorination. So in essence, this community, for the entire year, were not provided with clean drinking water.

But what was more shocking was that people weren’t informed. Notifications were not done in a proper language. We organized the group there and won some victories. We did a lot of social media work. Local press caught on right away on our local campaigns.

I’m a true believer that for people to understand that they have power to change the reality that they have, we have to have a short term and long term strategy. So, short term wins are huge.

When you organize a committee, or when you go into a community, and you basically go in door-knocking, you introduce yourself and ask if they know what water quality they have. They’ll say, “Yes” or “No”. If they say, “Yes”, you engage, and you say, “Well you know you have prochlorate and mitrate. That’s really detrimental to your health.” You know, that’s how we can change it. If they say, “No, I don’t know about those contaminants.” You say, “Well, you should know. You pay a water bill. There are laws that have to be implemented.” A lot of it is basically exchanging knowledge and helping people understand that they have the power to change the reality in their community.

Well, before you know it, we got calls from all over the Central Valley, saying that people were not drinking the water. You’ll probably notice on our website, there are these famous water bottles title Ducro water, it looks black. That came from the second community that we went in to organize. It was mainly because the water operator in Ducor, CA was not properly injecting chlorine into their treatment. So water was coming out smelly and stunk really bad. But unfortunately, in this community of Ducor, where the water was awful and stunk really badly, these are secondary contaminants. So looks can be deceiving. We like to say that it’s really important to figure out what’s in your drinking water to make decisions for your health. In Ducor, at least the water was coming out really nasty and disgusting. And it kind of alerted people not to drink the water. However, these are secondary contaminants. Why are they important? Other contaminants don’t have smell or taste. So it’s important to know about your water quality.

So we started the campaign at Ducor. We managed to work with the local water board. Through a 6 month campaign, we managed to have that water board do a better job at maintaining their water system and providing proper notifications to their community in Ducor. From there, it just spread. We got more phone calls from other communities. Quickly, I realized that it was unfathomable to think that we could go into each community and organize each one and have wins. So Laura, my co-director, and myself, decided to hold a regional meeting and invite all of the communities that we knew had water challenges in 2006. Once they came to a central location, the coalition of AGUA was born, which stands for la Asociación de Gente Unida por el Agua, or the Association of People United for Water.

To this day, I continue to be the coordinator for that coalition. The power of that coalition is that we work at very local levels but we also think bigger. Change has to happen at a local level but in addition to that you have to be thinking broader— big picture. So through the coalition, we’ve been meeting every month for the last 10 years, we have a regional campaign targeted with the regional water board to ensure that they do a better job in protecting our source water. We want to get proper notification, we want better water quality, but ultimately, you want to stop pollution. So AGUA is an entity and a grassroots coalition that targets and really works with the regional and state water board in CA who are both mandated to protect both surface and groundwater.

Why them? Over 90% of Valley residents rely on groundwater and it’s heavily polluted. Over 96% of agricultural practices contribute to nitrate pollution through fertilizer use and animal waste. The Central Valley is a farm worker community. So it’s important to ensure that the regional water board, who has to regulate this industry, does a better job and that we don’t provide just band-aids. We have to stop pollution. So AGUA and CWC, in addition with our allies, has been working for the last 10 years to reform the way the regional water board runs their programs to truly protect and monitor groundwater pollution. And we have had some big victories.

In addition to that we also believe that for us to create change and power the first step is just to become informed. Secondly, we have to be inspired to understand that we do have a way to create change. But we can change the reality of the life we have here. A lot of our hard-working communities are paying twice for water. They’re paying for a water bill that they cannot use. In addition to that they’re having to buy bottled water just to have safe drinking water in their home. That for many families adds up to 10% of their household income alone. We’re talking about hard-working farm worker families who don’t make a lot of money who are paying twice for water. It’s very expensive. In addition to that the reality is that the local water board structures are just sometimes undemocratic. Very challenging to work with at the local level. In addition to that a lot of our communities have really old and dilapidated infrastructure. It’s very complex to have safe drinking water. So we have to break down the process— when people clearly see a path toward change, and know how to do it it’s powerful. In that way you create change. As an organizer all I do is really help people understand that we can create change. I prioritize the tools and resources and strategy discussions as to how we are going to do that.

Fast forward a year and a half later, we decided the issue was just so big that a water campaign was not able to really address the huge issue of California drinking water problems. So we formed the Community Water Center in 2006. Today we’re eight years old and our strategies continue to be kind of the same. We continue to do community organizing building capacity and leadership of people affected by the problem at the forefront to recommend and understand that we can have a different reality. In addition to that we do advocacy and legislation that is bottom-up, meaning that if there is a policy or legislation fix that we see on the ground then we push for things like that.

In addition to that we continue to be a center for expertise and research and publications. We want to continue to share our work with other people that can potentially use our work. The first thing that we did was publish our drinking water advocacy guide. It has all of the laws and regulations for different types of water board structures, organizing models, and a case study on our community work. It’s a guide that’s really practical, people can copy and paste. We try to provide practical ways that people can be armed with resources and information.

We have really shaped California water policies. Two years ago, AB 685, the Human Right to Water Bill, was finally passed by Governor Brown. This is the first law in the United States of America to exist. It’s very indicative of where we’re at— that we have to pass a law that says people need to have access to safe drinking water. It’s mind boggling but that’s the reality.

Millions of people are exposed to unsafe contaminants in their drinking water. The majority of the contaminants found are in the Central Valley. This is clear discrimination. It’s an environmental justice issue. There are studies that say that if you’re low income and a person of color in the Central Valley, you’re going to have higher chances of polluted and expensive water. This is a very direct environmental justice issue.

As part of our foundation, we believe water is a basic human right. It shouldn’t be a privilege. That’s what we stand for.

Could you elaborate a little bit more on the changes you’ve seen, specifically changes related to AB 685, the Human Right to Water Bill? How did the Community Water Center contribute to its passing?

The way we measure impact for us is a measure of a few different things. Obviously the easiest one is how many people have safe drinking water right now. Another thing is how many people affected by the issue are actually in decision-making positions? How many of them are running for positions on the local or regional water board? Also what kind of policies and bills are being passed that truly reflect the issue and represent disadvantaged community water problems? Other measures affecting change is funding. How do resources and funding become available and flexible enough to bring about change?

Over the last 10 years we’ve helped support people to run for local water board offices. In Ducor, we helps get someone local on their water board. This is usually important because at the very local level water governance structures need to work with communities. We have to encourage and help train a number of our community members to be on local water boards.

In addition to that, a lot our community partners here and throughout the Central Valley are very aware of water quality. For a long time, no one talked about water quality in California. Now, everyone in the Central Valley knows we have an issue. We had been behind plenty of studies that have established where the pollution is coming from. Now we need to do something about it rather than get stuck pointing the finger at the polluter. To do that we work with the agricultural industry and with regional water boards to reform programs. We work to recognize that agriculture is one of the biggest polluters and to reform the practices that they’ve had for so long.

Now we have programs to work with the agricultural industry so that they can continue with their work but not at the expense of farm workers. The agricultural industry relies on farms workers yet they are polluting their farm workers water quality. We call it the poisonous cycle. Water boards are beginning to understand the problem and are working to figure out a way to better prevent contamination into groundwater. And we have been part of the entire stakeholder process.

Additionally, we’ve propelled a lot of policy into law. For instance, we now ensure that all communication is done in the language of the affected communities. This is basic but now it is law.

Before AB 685 was passed, there was another water bill, AB 1242, written by a different author. Ultimately, it was vetoed because Governor Schwarzenegger said that it would expose the state to a big liability case. The reality is, you can always find a lawsuit. However, we didn’t give up. As organizers and social activists, we believe you have to be persistent. We found another author for AB 658. The second time we ran it through the Senate and the Assembly and finally got it to Governor Brown’s office, he signed it into law. It took four years to pass this law. AB 685, the Human Right to Water, is truly symbolic because our community partners, those affected by the issue, were really at the forefront. They were the ones talking to their local representatives. They were the ones going up to Sacramento asking for support. Telling decision makers that if they didn’t want to support their efforts to get safe drinking water, that they should drink the toxic water themselves. They made them realize that communities and schools should be assured access to safe drinking water. When you humanize an issue and allow people to understand that they can create change for us, our elected officials, a lot of momentum occurs.

It was an interesting buildup. The idea of having safe drinking water resonated with a lot of people. So the second time, it was a lot harder to go through committees because there was a lot of opposition, but we managed to pass it into law. CWC, along with our community partners and our allies, made it happen. No change happens with one person alone. It requires a collective movement, a clear vision, and everyone to be part of a solution. CWC does not take credit for everything. We are creating a movement, a vision and opportunities to engage. That’s how we’ve really been shifting water policy in CA and bringing awareness to our community partners that they have power to change their reality. Even though they live in the Central Valley, they don’t have to choose whether they have good water or a good job. We want both.

How do you generally see pushback when trying to get policy passed?

When we don’t have good policies to help our communities leverage resources or bring about change. There were clear opposition letters, specifically for AB 685, when we were in committee and telling our decision makers they had the leadership to make change happen. The opposition would say that they weren’t the ones causing the problem, that it was a legacy issue. The reality is that there is a problem and that sustainable solutions are necessary. Even though agriculture pollutes our water, we don’t want to wipe out the industry. We are farm worker communities. We want to find sustainable, win-win solutions for both sides. With that intention, we should always be successful. However, when people are afraid of change, because they’ve been doing things for so long, it’s hard for them to want to change. They dig in their heels. Fear paralyzes people. But if we have a broader vision, and if we stay positive, we are a lot more powerful.

Could you elaborate on some other challenges you’ve experienced at a local level?

There have been some challenges at the local level. When I was an organizer prior to CWC, I also worked on a General Plan campaign. General Plans basically set goals for quality of life, how cities and counties grow, where do we have schools, parks, recreational centers, and industry location. It’s basically a planning document.

When I started to work on that campaign for Tulare County, I was looking at the General Plan under the liquid waste and its managing element. As I was reading, it was shocking to find a policy that basically said there were 15 communities that the county deemed to have no authentic future. So the county was not going to invest public funding into infrastructure like sewage and water. They believed that these counties should just wither away and go to other opportunities. Then they listed the 15 communities. Well those 15 communities were the ones I went in to to community organize and help. Because the reality is that this policy was actually being enforced. It’s not a coincidence that these communities have bad water quality and bad infrastructure, in addition to a number of other things. It gives you a sense of the framing of this county and which communities it believes have authentic futures and which did not.

However, I started a campaign and I focused on facing the problem to think of the solutions we should be pursuing to create change. We did a grassroots campaign and submitted lots of letters and petitions to the county. Eventually the county recognized that it was a very discriminatory policy and eventually got rid of the policy. They also felt it was better to address the issue [of poor infrastructure]. They now call these communities “hamlets”, rather than communities. Each hamlet has their own planning process for growth and change. This is big because they’re no longer deemed as having no authentic future but can now expand, grow, and create a better quality of life.

People in the Valley have been living here for a long time, this is home. They’re not just going to move away. Moving away from the issue is not solving. Rather, it’s recognizing the problem and the lack of interest and support to solve it. The campaign we did focused on leveraging opportunities to bring in researchers to help solve the problem. The county listened and things are changing.

This year, we finished a 2 million dollar study in the Tulare Lake Basin, which incorporates four counties, only looking at disadvantaged communities’ water problems and waste water management. This study was funded by a senate bill passed in 2009 that appropriated 2 million dollars to Tulare County to do the study. The money didn’t come until two years ago and we finally finished the study. Now, we’re looking at regional solutions for disadvantaged communities. Helping them understand that a lot of these communities have similar problems and how we can leverage resources and bring attention to the issue. It’s huge to have such an investment for our disadvantaged communities. Before, the mentality was just that county’s should not deal with them and maybe they would just go away. That’s just not what’s going to happen, so we’ve been working really hard to document the problems and ultimately publish this report to bring funding to bring about support and long-term solutions for our communities.

How do you generally come across funding?

S: Well, CWC is a non-profit, so we’re constantly fundraising. Our budget is mainly made up of foundation support, individual donations, fee-for-service, and a little bit of contracting work with the county as well. We’re constantly fundraising. We do get some funding from the federal government. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency has given us some smaller grants. But the funding we were talking about with state legislator is really helpful in coming up with money to help our communities.

This year, the Governor declared California to be in a drought. We were able to leverage 4 million dollars for drought-impacted communities. The drought has increased contamination. But for some communities, there is no water. However, because we have been declared to be in a state of emergency and a drought, 4 million dollars were leveraged for drought-impacted communities. That meant that the representative counties needed to apply for funding. I’m proud to say that Tulare County stepped up and applied for half a million dollars to provide for bottled water for low-income residents without safe drinking water. That means that a lot of the people that I work with are not having to pay twice for water now. They still have to pay for a water bill, but at least they’re getting some support and bottled water is being delivered to their home. Additionally, a lot of people have no water in their home.

I’ve been working in water for over ten years. This year, though, it’s really bad. Communities have responded creatively to address this problem, but it’s sad. The drought is not affecting everyone equally. It’s hitting the people who have already been dealing with this reality for a long timer harder. Now, Tulare County is realizing that they have the power and responsibility to help these disadvantaged communities that for a long time, they would rather just see fade away. But they’re not going anywhere.

Could you please expand on how you empower communities?

My platform is co-empowerment, which means that it is an equal exchange. We don’t go into a community thinking that it is top-down. We want to provide information that people understand. I’m a fluent Spanish-speaker. A lot of the time we are speaking in Spanish to our residents. Our job is to provide good information of the reality that exists and have them recognize that it is something we cannot conform to and it is not something we should condemn future generations to live in. It’s not OK. Once people understand that, we begin to win some ground.

Then we’re able to provide opportunities where they can engage, sometimes at the local water board level. We want people to understand how the water board should function. We want to go in and provide recommendations. My job is to help residents know enough information so that they feel empowered and want to create change. Not too much that would discourage them from doing anything at all. In my world, no action is not an option. Everyone needs to be informed of their water quality. We want them to understand that change is going to come eventually. The problem is manmade, so the solution can also be manmade.

So empowerment includes providing good information, empowering tools, such as training (public speaking, role-play)… it’s a very collaborative space that we create to allow people to be part of change for their community. At the end of the day, if they don’t want to do anything, that’s OK. At least it is their choice and they are informed. Part of my job is figuring out the unintended consequences of our work, such as sharks that come into the community that try to sell bad filters.

Ultimately, if I go on to do something else, and the work I’m doing now continues without me, that’s power for the communities. It’s a delicate balance to ensure that people are really informed. At the end of the day, I tell people that they are affected by the problem and they should be at the forefront. They have all the power to recommend the solutions that they feel are best for their community.

We also want to make sure that we focus on the positive and practical solutions. We also work to make sure that decision-makers are representing their communities and they have the power to make change. It’s a very co-powerment model. I provide information and they provide information as well.

Could you please elaborate on some creative, outside-of-the-box ideas you’ve come up with to address the current water shortage?

When I say outside-the-box, I mean a multi-pronged approach. White papers, policy, and organizing aren’t enough. We need a multi-tiered approach to bring about change. It’s like a car, all wheels need to be spinning in order to go forward. For us, it’s about capacity-building. Organizing people and injecting them with proper information and strategy engagement points. When are meetings happening? Who’s representing us? Where did they come from? How do we ultimately become the decision makers? Recognizing the regional problem and connecting with them. The concept of sharing and bringing about sustainable solutions is huge. At the end of the day, it’s going to take sharing resources outside of one’s own community. That’s thinking outside the box.

One of the biggest victories this year is the signing of groundwater legislation into law. This is important because California was the last state in the country to manage groundwater. In the Central Valley, there was no proper way for groundwater management, which meant that people could over-pump and drill as many wells as they wanted. This year, we’ve seen the drastic drop of our water table. Now we have to begin to understand how to properly manage groundwater. How to share and prioritize water consumption.

Everyone needs to be part of this process to figure out a sustainable solution. Let me be clear, I’m not a farmer. My family and background consist of farmers but I recognize my personal expertise. I don’t want to speak for farmers at a meeting. They need to be at the table in order for us to have truly transparent and sustainable groundwater policy. Those affected should be at the table to talk about policy. Building relationship is also really important. You should create a stakeholder process where everyone is speaking the same language. Part of my work is ensuring that community partners have the tools to feel confident enough to speak up in meetings.

That’s really interesting, that relationship building is necessary for change. It wouldn’t be so easy for someone to ignore a policy that would affect someone if they had never met that person. Are you doing anything to bring people together that might not normally meet?

Exactly, yes. That two million dollar study was a two year study through a very diverse, transparent, stakeholder process. We had budget agencies, government officials, local, state and federal officials, local water board members, local community members, NGOs, university members… We had a bunch of people that rarely come together to talk about solutions for disadvantaged communities. It was awesome! Officials that may not want to deal with low-income people of color were there and talking about solutions. Now, with the water bond passing, we have more than half a billion dollars that’s going to be leveraged for drinking and waste water solutions for disadvantaged communities. Major shift is coming, major resources are going to be coming and we have to make sure that our local officials are going to step up to the plate and help us leverage and secure that funding so that our community partners have a better quality of life. And you’re right, it’s about making relationships, getting to know each other, and ensuring that politicians understand that what they do affects people in a real way.