Miss — The “Best Tasting Water in California” has gone sour.
A Kern County Grand Jury has given Rand Communities Water District, which oversees water services for the eastern Kern desert communities of Randsburg, Johannesburg and Red Mountain 120 days to correct severe inadequacies in its business practices or it will be placed in receivership through the State Water Resources Control Board.
The grand jury's report cited levels of arsenic in the water that occasionally rose above state requirements. Additionally, leaks due to poor maintenance and infrastructure aging resulted in a 43 percent water loss equaling $24,224 in lost revenue, the report found.
Long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water can cause cancer and skin lesions, according to the World Health Organization.
Before residents suffer, the Rand Communities Water District needs to clean up its act. The Kern County Grand Jury deserves credit for rooting this one out.
December 6, 2018
The Bakersfield Californian
Opinion
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