"More than a million Californians live in places where tap water isn't reliably safe to drink, and about a third of them are in small, mostly Latino towns such as Seville in the San Joaquin Valley. Many residents of those communities -- some of the state's poorest -- ignore the often contradictory water-quality notices and spend extra money for bottled water for cooking and drinking.

The crisis has spawned a new group of activists, women such as school bus driver Becky Quintana in Seville, who are pressuring politicians to clean up the water. 'People -- even some in Seville -- ask me, 'Why don't you move?'' said Quintana, 54. 'But ... my father and his generation sweated for our little house. This isn't about me. It's about our kids and grandkids.'"

Scott Kraft reports for the Los Angeles Times' Greenspace blog November 7, 2010. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Hinkley Water Tainted by Chromium 6 Spreading" (San Francisco Chronicle) [3]