Environmental Justice Advocates Deliver Scientific Review Linking Nitrate Contamination to Cancer and Economic Hardship on Low-income Families, Urging State Water Board to Set Fertilizer Limits
Press Release
For Immediate Distribution
June 22, 2026
Media Contacts
- Clio Maya-Johnson, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., (831) 281-3292, cmaya-johnson@crla.org
- Kjia Rivers, Community Water Center, (858) 472-8549, kjia.rivers@communitywatercenter.org
Salinas, CA — Recently, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (“CRLA”) and a coalition of environmental justice leaders and advocates (“the Coalition”) delivered a scientific literature review to the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board”) on the health and economic risks of nitrate-contaminated drinking water for communities across California. The groups are urging the State Water Board to act quickly and require Regional Water Boards to adopt enforceable limits on fertilizer to address the growing public health crisis.
Nitrate contamination is one of the most pervasive threats to drinking water in California. It leaches into groundwater primarily from the overapplication of fertilizers, causing serious short- and long-term health risks to those who drink the contaminated water. An estimated 419,000 tons of nitrogen leach into California groundwater each year, with approximately 88% originating from synthetic fertilizer as well as manure applications to cropland and orchards. Community groups across the Central Coast have advocated for years for growers to curb the use of fertilizer in order to protect the health of their families and neighborhoods. Their stories, advocacy, and the community impacts of nitrate contaminated drinking water on the Central Coast are further detailed in this story map.
“Families in San Jerardo have been getting sick with cancer and nitrate levels continue to rise,” says Rosa Carillo, General Manager of the San Jerardo Cooperative, a member of the coalition. “This review confirms what many of my neighbors have experienced for a long time. We deserve action now.”
Prepared by UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group master’s graduate Alex Hall Rocha, with contributions from CRLA and reviewed by academic and nonprofit partners, the literature review was developed in response to questions raised by community advocates about the long-term impacts of nitrate in their communities. It synthesizes decades of research on the epidemiological, environmental health, and economic impacts of nitrate contamination.
“The studies included in this review validate the concerns that impacted communities have expressed for years,” says Alex Hall Rocha “The information was already there; we’re just adding new sources that highlight the urgency of this issue.”
In particular, a growing body of evidence indicates that drinking water containing nitrate—even at levels lower than the 10 mg/L drinking water regulatory standard (called the maximum contaminant level)—is associated with serious chronic health impacts including thyroid disease, congenital spina bifida, and colorectal, bladder, and ovarian cancers.
The literature review also finds that the burden of nitrate contamination is not shared equally. Communities that are predominantly Latino, low-income, and rural are significantly more likely to face elevated nitrate contamination in their drinking water.
Beyond health impacts, the review documents the substantial economic burden nitrate contamination poses on communities, water systems, and taxpayers. A 2025 study by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board concluded that an estimated 14,039 residents are impacted by nitrate contamination, and that interim replacement water supplies alone could require up to $72 million over the next decade. Altogether, these findings show California’s communities of color are paying the highest health and financial costs of nitrate contamination, highlighting a clear environmental injustice.
“Families are having to choose between their health and their wallet,” said E. Valentin Resendiz-Luna, resident of San Lucas and President of Misión San Lucas, a community advocacy group addressing ongoing nitrate contamination in their community, "Why are we carrying the costs of contamination that we did not cause?”
The review suggests that these burdens are likely to grow without immediate action. Nitrate is a “legacy contaminant,” meaning pollution applied to farmland years or decades ago continues to migrate through groundwater systems long after it is discharged, making today’s regulatory decisions consequential for decades to come.
CRLA and the Coalition are fighting to re-establish enforceable limits on agricultural nitrate pollution. After years of community advocacy for enforceable limits, the Central Coast Water Board adopted the nation's first fertilizer limits as part of Agricultural Order 4.0 in 2021. Two years later, the State Water Board removed those limits and convened an agricultural expert panel to evaluate scientific evidence and make recommendations for future nitrate regulations. In providing public comments on the expert panel’s draft recommendations, CRLA and the Coalition submitted the literature review to ensure the expert panel and State Water Board fully consider the documented health, economic, and environmental justice impacts of nitrate contamination as they reconsider the regulatory framework for nitrate discharge.
On June 16, the expert panel delivered its recommendations to the State Water Board. Those recommendations supported some/the use of limits to regulate fertilizer nitrate discharge. Additionally, the expert panel identified nitrogen discharge rates (31 lb N/acre/year for the Central Valley and 50 lb N/acre/year for the Central Coast) that growers need to meet in order to protect groundwater from nitrate contamination. Based on these recommendations, the State Water Board is responsible for requiring the Regional Boards to set interim and final enforceable nitrogen fertilizer limits to safeguard the health of families across the State.
In 2023, impacted communities also challenged the State Water Board’s decision to revoke fertilizer limits in court. The litigation is ongoing, with a hearing on the issue expected in the Fall of 2026. Together, the State Water Board’s upcoming regulatory process and litigation will determine whether California takes meaningful steps to curb nitrate contamination and protect rural Californians’ right to safe and affordable drinking water.
“The literature review makes clear not only that the scientific basis for fertilizer limits is well established, but that limits must be set immediately,” says Elias Rodriguez, Staff Attorney at CRLA, “Any further delay from the State Water Board will only deepen the harms borne by California’s rural communities of color.”
Organizations advocating for nitrogen fertilizer limits include California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., the Comité de Salinas, San Jerardo Cooperative, Misión San Lucas, Community Water Center, California Coastkeeper Alliance, Monterey Waterkeeper, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Clean Water Action, Environmental Law Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Valley Improvement Projects, Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative, and community groups from across the Central Coast.
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About California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is an anti-poverty law firm that dismantles unjust systems through community lawyering in California’s historically rural areas. We work with people priced out of private legal representation so they can uphold civil rights in housing, employment, health, and public education. Through our 17 Rural Justice Centers, communities can access a broad range of legal tools, including direct legal services, place-based advocacy to expand equity in civic institutions, and specialized litigation to advance civil rights. crla.org