Giving Compass' Take:

• Alissa Greenberg reports on the suffering that the mega farms of California inflict on the citizens that live near them.  

• How can policies better protect the people of California? What sustainable water solutions exist in California in the face of climate change? 

• Learn about the shortcomings of existing policies in California. 

Isabel Solorio can see the water treatment plant from her garden across the street. Built to filter out the arsenic in drinking water, it hasn’t been active since 2007 – it shut down six months after opening when the California town of Lanare went into debt trying to keep up with maintenance costs.

“It’s cruel to be living in a state that’s so powerful, so rich, but we can’t count on clean water,” said Solorio, 51.

Towns across the Central Valley region of California have had tap water arsenic levels above the federal limit for almost two decades, levels that research suggests can raise the risk of a variety of cancers and lower IQ in children. During the same period, locals and scientists have noticed another odd phenomenon: the valley is sinking, at rates as fast as 25cm a year. Now it seems that the two problems are connected.

Read the full article on clean water in California by Alissa Greenberg at The Guardian.