Katie Havens

Clean water is a basic human right, not a privilege. Vision All communities have access to safe, clean, and affordable water. Mission Statement The Community Water Center acts as a catalyst for community-driven water solutions through organizing, education, and advocacy in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The Community Water Center helps build strategic grassroots capacity to address water challenges in small, rural, low-income communities and communities of color. Since opening its doors in 2006, CWC has worked with local residents from 82 California communities (69 in the southern San Joaquin Valley) to improve access to safe, clean, and affordable water. CWC has trained over 2,674 residents as clean water advocates and provided technical assistance to over 15 local water boards struggling with how to manage efficient and accountable water systems in their communities. CWC has also served as legal counsel to a number of small, disadvantaged communities with water systems. As a result, many rural, economically disadvantaged communities in the San Joaquin Valley now have improved access to clean and affordable drinking water. In 2009, CWC published a comprehensive Guide to Community Drinking Water Advocacy in both English and Spanish. This highly acclaimed guide has been distributed to hundreds of individuals, groups, and local water boards. See Here for more information. CWC also coordinates the coalition Asociación de Gente Unida por el Agua (AGUA), which is comprised of representatives of more than 17 local impacted communities and six nonprofit organizations, as well as youth and community-based organizations, all focused on addressing the root causes of unsafe and unaffordable drinking water for local communities.