Environmental Justice — Madera Coalition for Community Justice

Madera Coalition for Community Justice has been awarded a grant to establish an organizational framework to ensure water security in terms of quality and quantity in Madera County. The grant coordinator for this project is Mariela Mendez.

Water is a valuable resource that we take for granted. Together, as a community, we can learn about the water issue and ways to promote quality water. Our goal is to raise awareness by educating and empowering the community about ways to ensure water security in terms of quality and quantity by providing tools and resources about the water issue.

Community meetings will take place in different areas of Madera County. Please visit our community calendar to stay up to date with our meetings and events.

This project is being funded by a grant from the Rose Foundation For Communities and the Environment.

WATER FACTS

Over 65% of our body is made of water
97% is salt water
2% is water frozen in glaciers
Only one percent is fresh water we can use (ground water - .4%; surface water - .022% &, .001 atmosphere)
American uses 98 gallons of water a day (People in Madagascar uses 1.5 gal.)
The U.S. uses 341 billion gallons of water a day
Humans can live less than 2 weeks without water but a month without food
25 million people die each year from water contamination

California's Water System

California is tied together in an intricate plumbing system- both legal and literal- that transports water from the north, where it is plentiful, to the south, where it is scarce.

Where Water Comes From

California receives 193 million acre-feet of water as rain or snow, three-quarters of it falling North of Sacramento. Most of the moisture -122 million acre feet- either soaks into the ground, is consumed by plants or evaporates. The balance of 71 million acre-feet runs off into streams and rivers.

Capturing And Controlling The Water

More than 150 major reservoirs have been constructed to capture a little more than half of the 71 million acre feet of the typical water runoff. California each year consumes 34 million acre-feet, some of that coming from the Colorado and other rivers that originate outside the state. Three-quarters of that annual demand is met with surface water, and the balance with water from beneath the ground.

Who Uses The Water

Below are the three broad categories of water consumers and the percentage of the total water supply that they consume.