Is Recycled Water safe for agriculture in California?

Recycled water for agriculture has come to the public's attention with the recent contamination cases in spinach, lettuce and carrot juice.

An editorial by California State Senator, Abel Maldonado, in the Monterey Herald offers some insights into the recycled water services California is increasingly dependent upon as fresh water supplies are stretched.


The California Department of Health Services requires recycled water to meet stringent testing and regulatory requirements. Water quality testing has never shown properly treated recycled water to be anything other than safe. That is why after years of rigorous tests on agricultural pilot programs, California approved the use of recycled water on a large scale more than 20 years ago.

My fellow farmers in Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Napa, Ventura and Orange counties have for decades used safe recycled water for crop irrigation without any public health problems. As further testament to the safety of recycled water, cities and counties throughout the state have used this safe water source for urban landscape and parks where California's families recreate and enjoy the outdoors.

Some confusion has recently arisen about recycled water, which has, in turn, caused some individuals to question its use on crops. Indeed, the recent E. coli outbreak in spinach is a cause for legitimate concern, and attention should focus on finding the true source of the deadly strain of E coli.

This particular strain, E. coli 0157:H7, thrives in the acidic digestive tracts of cows, especially ones that feed on corn, and is regularly shed in large amounts in their feces. When cow manure enters local streams, and when those streams flood adjacent farmlands, the potential increases dramatically for crop contamination. At the present time, cow manure contamination of local water streams is the most probable -- though not yet proven -- source of the latest outbreak.

It is indisputable that water is a valuable resource that we cannot afford to waste in this state. It is also true that California is water-short by several million acre-feet per year. We are currently overpumping our aquifers to make up for these shortages, which is an unsustainable and potentially dangerous way to manage our water needs. Rather than pumping our wells dry to close the gap, we should be "water wise" and increase our use of safe and sustainable recycled water to protect our future.

That is why proposals to ban recycled water in California's agriculture in response to unfounded fears of food contamination are simply wrong-headed. Instead, thoughtful policymakers should resist any legislative schemes that would threaten the use of this needed, safe and environmentally responsible water supply.


Abel Maldonado represents California's Central Coast in the Senate. His family-owned business, AGRO-JAL, farms 6,000 acres.