California State Assembly passed the bill AB2454 in May, aiming to mandate landlords to provide clean water for tenants who rely on private household wells.
Proposed by Democratic Assemblymember Alex Lee, the bill requires landlords renting out properties with private wells to conduct water quality testing annually and share the results with tenants within 10 days. If the water quality is below standard, landlords must provide an adequate supply of clean drinking water within 14 days. Current laws do not mandate regulatory oversight by the state water board for household wells.
Lee emphasized during a hearing that the proposal will ensure residents in areas relying on household well water do not consume toxic tap water, stating that “tenants should have the same right as landlords to access safe drinking water.”
There are approximately 2 million household wells in California. A legislator supporting the bill mentioned that this measure will benefit Californians affected by well water contamination.
“Due to the lack of state and federal requirements for testing drinking water quality from household wells, tenants may be unaware of any pollutants in their drinking water,” stated an advisor from the Environmental Safety Committee in legislative analysis. “Without clear protections, tenants may be reluctant to test water from wells that do not belong to them.”
In fact, California passed a law in 2023 known as the “Safe Drinking Water Act,” which requires household well owners to participate in projects aimed at improving water quality or provide safe drinking water for tenants to protect some tenants in vulnerable communities; however, the law’s coverage of tenants is limited.
Abraham Mendoza from the non-profit organization Community Water Center expressed during the hearing that thousands of tenants in the Central Valley currently rely on bottled water because their well water source is contaminated or has dried up.
Some groups in a joint statement supporting the AB2454 bill stated: “To fully realize the commitment to the human right to water, California must ensure that its most vulnerable groups— including tenants in disadvantaged communities with limited water quality control capacity— have access to safe drinking water.”
While the legislative analysis did not list opposing groups to the AB2454 bill, there are discussions among the public. Some question, “California politicians seem inclined to pass laws under the guise of ‘vulnerable groups,’ yet the water quality in California is generally poor. Why not focus on addressing the overall water quality issue? Landlords are also people, and many are actually paying for water to drink.”
Others raise concerns, “This sounds more like the government wanting to control greater authority. Why can’t politicians educate tenants to test the drinking water they consume daily on their own, rather than mandating landlords to do so? Clean drinking water is crucial, and everyone is an adult who should take responsibility for themselves.”
The AB2454 bill has been submitted to the Senate and is expected to be discussed within the Senate committee in the coming weeks.