Friend, did you know that around 100,000 people in California’s Central Valley have a contaminated water supply in their home? And in the state as a whole, over 1 million people don’t have access to clean drinking water?

That’s why the focus of Year 1 of the EnviroVoters Ed Fund Ambassador Program was water equity. The fellowship program, created to advance transformative organizing and build power in targeted regions, wrapped up this month, and I’m so excited to give you an update on the progress we’ve made in the Central Valley.

Our inaugural Ambassador Program has laid the groundwork to put control of water rights back into the hands of the communities living and working in the Central Valley — to #ReclaimOurWater — so everyone has affordable, clean water.

Through our text-banking campaign, our Ambassadors have built out a constituency of young BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) advocates in unincorporated, low-income communities to protect drinking water and groundwater from fossil fuel contamination.

At California Environmental Voters Education Fund, we believe that clean water is a human right. No one should have to worry about whether the drinking water in their home is safe for their family.

The inspiring work of our Ambassadors has me bullish about our collective ability to organize, mobilize, and effect change from the grassroots up on critical issues like water equity. We’re not going to solve this problem overnight, but we’re on the ground in frontline communities talking to families, hearing their concerns: the drought, water scarcity, and access to clean drinking water.

Friend, we’re gradually building power to create a long-term transformation in marginalized, rural communities like the Central Valley so their elected officials and the state hear those concerns, act on them, and hold agriculture industry polluters accountable.

So what can you do? First, sign up to learn about upcoming volunteer opportunities. Please consider chipping in a few dollars to the EnviroVoters Ed Fund to help fund critical organizing programs like this. If you haven’t already, sign our petition calling for clean, affordable water in the Central Valley. And be on the lookout for what our second Ambassador cohort is doing starting in September!

Onward and upward,

Andrew Escamilla
Regional Organizer
California Environmental Voters Education Fund
(formerly California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund)

We are hiring! Join us to work on critical climate legislation work.

California Environmental Voters Education Fund (EnviroVoters Ed Fund), formerly California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, exists to build power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a roadmap for global action. To protect our air, land, water, and future, we organize voters and educate lawmakers on bold policy change. Our vision is to solve the climate crisis, build resilient, connected, healthy communities, and create a democracy and economy that is just and sustainable for all.