The History Of The
CalFresh Safe Drinking Water EBT Program
The CalFresh Safe Drinking Water Pilot launched in March 2022. But its history goes back to 2016, when Nourish California (known as California Food Policy Advocates at the time) worked in collaboration with partners to create a supplemental water benefit that would support households with inadequate access to safe drinking water.
Background
More than one million Californians lack access to safe drinking water. Lack of safe drinking water disproportionately affects Latine, rural, and under-resourced communities. While this is a statewide problem, it is felt most deeply in the Central Valley, Sierra Foothills, and Central Coast. The lack of safe drinking water is a threat to food security.
CalFresh benefits can be used to purchase drinking water, but the benefit formula assumes that households have safe and reliable tap water and doesn't account for the potential cost of water in the benefit amount. When households that participate in CalFresh are forced to spend their limited grocery dollars to purchase drinking water, they have less to spend on the food they need. Recognizing the need to provide short-term relief, the state launched the CalFresh Safe Drinking Water EBT Program in March 2022, which provides $50 per month to around 3,000 households in select zip codes impacted by unsafe drinking water.
While long-term solutions are necessary, California communities need access to safe drinking water right now. Low-income communities cannot afford to wait for solutions to California's water crisis. We must continue and extend successful interventions like the CalFresh Safe Drinking Water EBT Program.
2016
While permanent infrastructure solutions continue to be developed to address California’s water crisis, almost a million Californians are still left without safe drinking water throughout the state. Many people live in communities where water is contaminated with arsenic, nitrates, and other toxins, and as a result, must use bottled water for drinking and cooking. To address this issue, in 2016, Nourish California sponsored AB 2099 that would have used the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system to provide direct relief for low-income households without access to safe drinking water. Unfortunately, the bill did not reach the Governor’s desk, but the fight to ensure equitable and adequate access to water did not stop there.
2017
Continuing our efforts from previous years, Nourish California, alongside our Drinking Water coalition partners and anti-hunger advocates, launched a budget advocacy campaign to ask the state to provide emergency supplemental food benefits for CalFresh households when their water systems pose a serious risk to their health and wellbeing. We also heard from community members directly how lack of safe drinking water impacted their families, and learned from leaders who were advocating tirelessly to secure safe, clean, and affordable drinking water for their communities.
Water is a human right. Help us secure water for our community!
Thanks to the collective efforts of our partners and community members, we successfully secured $5 million in the 2017-18 California state budget to create a state-funded water pilot program for CalFresh households in select communities within the Central Valley. A workgroup was also created to help design and implement the pilot, which was set to launch in 2018. Nourish California, the County Welfare Directors Association, Fresno County, Kern County, the State Water Resources Control Board, Tulare County, and other impacted partners were included in the workgroup.
2018-2021
The pilot was originally scheduled to launch in three counties beginning October 2018, but due to the CalSAWS migration to a single system, implementation was delayed and limited to Kern County only.
2022
The CalFresh Safe Drinking Water Pilot officially began in March of 2022!
Today, the pilot continues to provide $50 per month in supplemental benefits to about 3,000 households in select Kern County zip codes.
2023-2024
The initial pilot was set to expire in October 2023, but with swift action by the Governor and Legislature, the 2023-24 state budget included funding to extend the pilot through June 2025. This extension prevents participating households from seeing another harmful cut to their limited food and water budgets. California must continue to invest in the CalFresh Safe Drinking Water pilot and expand the pilot to include more counties and families that are struggling to afford food and don’t have access to safe drinking water.
What's Next?
This year, in 2024, we look to extend the pilot and ask the state to conduct a feasibility study to see if the pilot could be expanded to other counties within California. Without funding in this year’s state budget, the pilot will end prematurely in June 2025, and pilot participants who rely on those supplemental benefits would see a cut of $50 to their monthly CalFresh allotment. Even if funding was to be allocated in the following budget, notices of discontinuance will need to be sent to pilot participants as soon as May 2025, causing unnecessary confusion and stress. It would also put on an added administrative burden even if the program is able to restart later in 2025. It is better for communities and more cost effective for the state to allocate enough funding for benefits so that the program can continue without costly interruption.
Sign onto our letter to support the CalFresh water pilot.
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