About

The Issue

In Imperial County, approximately 3,000 households do not have access to treated municipal water. Instead, residents in countryside homes use raw water from nearby agricultural canals for showering, washing dishes, and cleaning. The Imperial Irrigation District cannot ensure that the water meets drinking water standards, so residents are required to purchase water from a private water company for drinking and cooking.

These open-air canals cross thousands of miles of agricultural fields in Imperial County, picking up organic matter and agricultural runoff. A number of hazardous contaminants could be present in the canal water – pesticides, bacteria, industrial chemicals – but little data is available about the water that residents use in their homes.

Purpose of Our Project

To address this data gap, Comite Civico Del Valle is conducting a project to identify and quantify contaminants in the canals serving households in Imperial Valley. We are using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) model to ensure that our community guides our research and fully understands our results.

In addition to water sampling, we plan to

  • Determine how people are exposed to water contaminants;

  • Identify potential sources of contamination;

  • Develop a community outreach and educational campaign to prevent exposure to contaminants;

  • Enhance the environmental justice curriculum offered at Brawley Union High School; and

  • Potentially provide data to CalEnviroScreen, a mapping tool that identifies California communities that are most affected by many sources of pollution, and where people are often especially vulnerable to pollution’s effects.

How to Learn More

Check out our Media and Resources page, where you can find our previous study on canal water in Imperial Valley.

Announcements

Community Meetings

Join us to discuss community needs and pollution hotspots. The meetings are scheduled for the week of August 27th. Check out our Project Updates for a schedule of meeting dates, times, and locations.

Community Meetings

Join us to discuss community needs and pollution hotspots. The meetings are scheduled for Feb/March 2018.

Community Steering Committee Meeting 11/30/17

Our first CSC meeting was a success! Check out our Project Updates for a summary.