EJCW's Work Groups EJCW Work Groups are the heart of EJCW's work. Work Groups carry out the work of the coalition and collaboratively set the agenda for EJCW. They are intended to bring together the many groups and communities working on similar issues throughout the state, from the border of Oregon to the border of Mexico. By integrating and improving information sharing, communication and strategies these disparate, local campaigns, coalition members are able to join forces and address the overarching environmental justice issues that surface throughout California water. Work Groups meet quarterly and develop their own work plans and budgets.

Watersheds Work Group The Watershed Work Group of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water is working toward preserving, restoring, and managing watersheds in environmental justice communities and supporting sustainable watershed management. Working together the Work Group members coordinate and integrate our efforts to create community-based watershed programs and plans that educate and advocate for watershed protection, restoration, management and policy enforcement. Public and Tribal Trust philosophies and a commitment to pollution prevention, water conservation, public participation, multifunctional open space, polluter pays, and the precautionary principle guide the Work Group’s activities. Members: Karuk Tribe; Parchester Village Neighborhood Center; Urban Semillas; West County Toxics Coalition; Clean Water Action; East Bay Watershed Center/ Institute for Sustainable Policy Studies; Southern California Watershed Alliance. Contact Dipti Bhatnagar for more information on this Work Group. Legislation and Policy Team The purpose of the Legislation and Policy Team is to advance the needs of environmental justice communities in California's water policy and legislation. The Team not only brings the concerns and visions of communities struggling with water issues to the state legislative arena, but also forms a cohesive voice for water justice in water policy, management and legislation. The Team serves as a bridge between the exclusive world of Sacramento decision-makers and the grassroots community, connecting residents with forums for public participation in water policy and legislation and responding directly to the water-related issues communities identify as priorities. The Team supports the involvement of community members in water policy and legislation and helps translate the needs of community groups into concrete policy and legislative agendas. The Team draws directly from EJCW’s other issue-based Work Groups to reflect the diversity of issues and communities that are a part of EJCW. The Team also consults with the working groups and defines EJCW’s legislative and policy platform. This entails incorporating the wide variety of issues and communities EJCW works with into a series of solution-oriented policy and legislative recommendations. Members: California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation; Community Water Center; Clean Water Action; Southern California Watershed Alliance; Urban Semillas; Winnemem Wintu Tribe; Contact Debbie Davis for more information on this Work Group.

Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Work Group The Drinking Water Work Group of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water works to ensure that all communities throughout California have access to safe, affordable and clean drinking water. Our work addresses the lack of language-appropriate, effective and timely information on drinking water quality; the dilapidated state of drinking water and waste water infrastructure within communities; widespread groundwater contamination within California; a chronic lack of accountability of water providers and agencies at both the local and the statewide level; the failure of the state water system to provide a low-income water subsidies and encouragement of water conservation; and the widespread but underreported health impacts from contaminated drinking water. We seek to engage communities in their local water governance and foster grassroots organizing to inform the creation of local and statewide policy initiatives that will help achieve the changes we seek. Members: California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation; Clean Water Action; Comite Pro Uno; Committee for a Better Alpaugh; Community Water Center; Latino Issues Forum; Institute for Socioeconomic Justice; San Jerardo Co-operative. Contact Miriam Torres for more information on this Work Group. Democratization Work Group The purpose of the Democratization Work Group is to open and diversify the world of California water management and increase the number of communities and people who are able to make informed, sustainable, holistic decisions about local, regional, and statewide water policy. The Work Group will use two primary approaches to accomplish this: it will build capacity among environmental justice advocates, and address institutional barriers to community participation in California water policy. The Work Group will build a base of empowered water justice advocates around the state by developing multi-generational capacity and leadership among communities. This base will provide a pool of qualified people to fill positions of power and will hold leaders accountable. This entails developing strategies for leadership development and capacity-building, and grooming and supporting potential leaders. Simultaneously, the Work Group will generate strategies to address the policies, procedures and institutions that keep environmental justice leaders out of decision-making positions. It will identify key positions of power to fill with environmental justice leaders. This can include, but is not limited to, reforming land-owner based districts; opening up water boards; and ensuring basic public participation goals are met in water policy meetings. Members: Committee for a Better Alpaugh; Southern California Watershed Alliance; Institute for Socio-Economic Justice; Clean Water Action; Fort Ord Environmental Justice Network; West County Toxics Coalition; Community Water Center; Urban Semillas; Winnemem Wintu Tribe; Contact Debbie Davis for more information on this Work Group.