Impact of Droughts on Served Drinking Water Disparities in California, 2007-2020

Abstract

Objectives. To quantify the impact of droughts on drinking water arsenic and nitrate levels provided by community water systems (CWSs) in California and to assess whether this effect varies across sociodemographic subgroups. Methods. I integrated CWS characteristics, drought records, sociodemographic data, and regulatory drinking water samples (n = 83 317) from 2378 water systems serving 34.8 million residents from 2007 to 2020. I analyzed differential drought effects using fixed-effect regression analyses that cumulatively accounted for CWS-level trends, income, and agricultural measures. Results. CWSs serving majority Latino/a communities show persistently higher and more variable drinking water nitrate levels. Drought increased nitrate concentrations in majority Latino/a communities, with the effect doubling for CWSs with more than 75% Latino/a populations served. Arsenic concentrations in surface sources also increased during drought for all groups. Differential effects are driven by very small (< 500) and privately owned systems. Conclusions. Impending droughts driven by climate change may further increase drinking water disparities and arsenic threats. This underscores the critical need to address existing inequities in climate resilience planning and grant making. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(9):935-945. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307758).