‘El pueblo Olvidado’: limitations of mutual water companies and a community’s fight for clean water

Abstract In 2012, California recognized clean water as a human right. Yet, despite significant policy advances, the state fails to provide access to clean water in agricultural communities throughout the Central Valley. These communities, where immigrant and often Indigenous farmworkers live, are largely governed by private mutual water companies. They frequently access water contaminated with high levels of 1,2,3-trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP), arsenic, and other cancer-causing carcinogens produced by the same industries that employ them. This paper examines the structural limitations of California’s fragmented water system to reflect on how its mutual water governance systems place the burden on underserved communities to realize their right to clean water. Focusing on years of resident-led activism in Fuller Acres, we illustrate how racist and exclusionary governance legacies continue to undermine state-led water consolidation interventions. Through field notes, observations, and community testimony, we describe the culturally rooted grassroots strategies residents use to confront systemic barriers in securing clean water. We conclude that without direct community engagement and political accountability, even in small water systems, top-down solutions risk perpetuating the inequities the state aims to address.