Document Type
Senior Thesis
Publication Date
4-13-2015
Abstract
California, the eighth largest economy in the world, has nearly one million residents that lack daily access to clean drinking water, yet it recently became the first state in the US to declare water a human right through the passage of 2013 Assembly Bill 685. The majority of water quality violations take place in the rural San Joaquin Valley in unincorporated, low-income communities, which have difficulties accessing clean, drinking water due to issues including quality, affordability, and physical accessibility. The role of community integration in improving water poverty has been studied extensively in developing countries but its impact is infrequently studied in the developed world. This study uses a comparative case study approach to ask the question: How does community integration affect access to drinking water in the San Joaquin Valley? The study finds that local community participation, interaction with non-profits, and public resources can improve the quality of drinking water in rural, disadvantaged communities.
Recommended Citation
Galik, Alyssa J., "Water Poverty in California’s Rural Disadvantaged Communities" (2015). Pepperdine University, Featured Research. Paper 91.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/sturesearch/91
Library Research Award Essay
Comments
Political Science Honors Program
Advisor: Dr. Candice Ortbals
Library Research Award for Best Undergraduate Project (2015)
See author's related presentation slides.