By Lois Henry, SJV Water
Rural Kern County residents have a higher likelihood of drinking water tainted with unhealthful levels of contaminants than their southern California neighbors, thanks, in part to Kern’s hodgepodge of small, under resourced water systems, according to a report from the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Researchers found that Kern’s 164 systems serve an average 5,393 customers, indicating significant “water sprawl” in the county, particularly in rural, primarily low-income, areas.
Ninety-one of those systems had 1,546 water quality violations over the past 10 years, more than three times the next highest county studied, according to the report.
That system fragmentation in Kern has also resulted in significantly higher monthly bills for residents of severely disadvantaged communities, where researchers found costs sometimes exceeded $145 a month – the highest of all counties studied.
This was the first year Luskin Center researchers included Kern in their Southern California Community Water Systems Atlas. This year’s atlas looked at 663 water systems across Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Kern counties serving 40% of California’s population.
The research also includes an interactive map that residents can use to zero in on specific water systems and learn more about how they’re governed, how many water quality violations they’ve had and even average monthly bill amounts.
SJV Water sought comments from local water system leaders but none responded in time for this article.
The Luskin atlas notes that Kern’s water systems rely almost entirely on groundwater, which can be contaminated with arsenic, nitrate and 1,2,3-TCP, a fertilizer additive, leading to persistent problems and repeated quality violations.
That reality, points to a greater need than enforcement alone according to the atlas.
“In sum, while California has made strides in identifying and publicizing violations, persistent gaps remain in addressing the root causes of water contamination, particularly those affecting more rural counties with a larger proportion of smaller community water systems,” the atlas states, noting that chronic contamination issues plague drinking systems throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
While the atlas doesn’t make any specific policy recommendations, it clearly shows that larger, better financed systems have more resources to treat water for dangerous contaminants and spread costs among more consumers, keeping bills lower.
That said, the atlas also highlights how water rates have been outpacing inflation – by between 2.6 and 1.3 percentage points – since researchers began following water systems in 2015.
In Los Angeles County, the average water rate rose from $50 a month in 2015, to $63.27 in 2020 and $79.50 in 2025, a 59% increase in 10 years, according to the Luskin atlas.
Minimum rates remained relatively stable from 2020 to 2025 but maximum rates jumped dramatically from $134.07 per month to $231.49, indicating widening disparities between systems, the atlas states.
“These findings, alongside earlier data showing rising bills for (disadvantaged communities) and (severely disadvantaged communities) suggest water affordability is becoming an escalating crisis in the region,” the atlas states.
