|
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.
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
|
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; Institute for
Socioeconomic Justice; San Jerardo Co-operative.
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
|
