Jovita Torres, a resident of the unincorporated community of Tombstone Territory in Fresno County, has been struggling to have access to safe and reliable water supply at home for almost a decade.

When the private domestic well at her rental house went dry many years ago, doing dishes or taking a shower was something that she and her family needed to plan carefully, given that water was a scarce commodity.

Others in the severely disadvantaged community had wells with dangerous levels of contamination and had to rely on bottled water and emergency deliveries for years.

Now, thanks to a long-awaited project funded by California’s Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund (SAFER), Torres and her neighbors will have their water connected to the City of Sanger.

The $5 million consolidation water system project broke ground last week and is expected to be completed later this year. The project will secure safe drinking water for residents like Torres and Tombstone residents will receive their water through an extension of services from the City of Sanger to their homes.

“My home was one of the first to lose water,” said Torres. “After nine years of struggling and fighting to get access to clean water, I’m happy that we have finally made it here.”

Torres spent nearly a decade advocating for safe, reliable drinking water sources to the four-block rural community of nearly 40 households about one mile south of Sanger.

Enviromental justice advocates said the consolidation project is victory for water justice in Tombstone Territory, a predominantly Latino community that has been historically excluded from safe water infrastructure.

The project is a partnership between the community of Tombstone and the City of Sanger, in which city leaders worked with community, state, and other stakeholders to ensure progress in the project.

“Water is the gift of life and if we can do something to help these people get clean water we are going to do it,” said Sanger mayor Frank Gonzalez. “They came to us with a plan, some backing and money. We were in the process of updating our water system, and this was perfect timing.”

Nataly Escobedo Garcia, policy manager for the water and climate programs at Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, said, “Tombstone and dozens of other communities are now closer to having access to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water.”

The SAFER drinking water program was launched by the state water board in 2019 to address California’s water crisis with the passage of Senate Bill 200.

The bill provides $130 million annually, through 20230, to clean up drinking water in California communities like Tombstone that lack access to safe water.

“All Californians deserve access to clean drinking water,” Newsom said in a statement. “Thanks to major state investments, infrastructure projects like this are connecting communities, delivering safe drinking water, and creating a brighter future in rural towns and cities.”

According to the state, more than 250 failing water systems across the state are now in compliance with drinking water standards since the SAFER program’s launch.

According to Leadership Counsel, more than 800,000 Californians still lack access to safe and affordable drinking water.

State water board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel said that while consolidations with domestic well communities can be difficult, “what we find is that it is the goodwill of water systems and community members, themselves, that resolves problems and brings projects over the finish line.”

Advocates of Senate Bill 350 by state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo said underserved communities face rising water costs, with about one-third of California households struggling to pay their water bills.

The bill would create a low-income water rate assistant program for all public water systems in the state to help make water affordable for struggling families.