Governor Gavin Newsom has announced the completion of a new water system for the City of Needles, California. This initiative aims to provide a safe and reliable drinking water supply for the approximately 5,000 residents of the city, located in eastern San Bernardino County.
“With today’s announcement, the City of Needles now joins the 98% of Californians served by clean drinking water systems,” stated Governor Newsom. The project is in line with the state’s broader agenda to secure safe drinking water for all Californians.
The construction of the new water system in Needles was funded by a $14 million state grant from the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) drinking water program. This initiative reflects Governor Newsom’s commitment to infrastructure development and job creation as part of his “build more, faster agenda.”
The SAFER program, initiated after Governor Newsom signed SB 200 in 2019, aims to resolve drinking water issues through the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. The city of Needles sought emergency assistance from the State Water Board when its 80-year-old water system failed due to a burst pipe and a lightning strike in 2020, further complicated by existing contamination issues.
Needles, with a median household income of $40,000, faced significant barriers in upgrading its aging water infrastructure without state support. As articulated by Needles City Manager Patrick Martinez, “The $14.3 million SAFER grant provided a critical opportunity to turn long-standing infrastructure challenges into a model of resilience and sustainability.”
California’s SAFER program is designed to ensure that communities lacking access to safe drinking water, especially disadvantaged and minority communities, receive the support needed. “This is the kind of forward-looking, outcomes-driven investment California needs,” Martinez added, highlighting the potential for regional economic and capacity growth as a result of the project.
The SAFER program utilizes various funding sources, including Propositions 1, 68, and 84, among others, to foster sustainable solutions for communities at risk. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to support California’s initiative, one that has already reduced the number of residents without access to safe water from 1.6 million to about 800,000 since 2019.
