The Water Inside and Out: Drinking Water Data, Disparities, and Regulatory Distinctions Among California’s Carceral and Noncarceral Water Systems

Background: Critical environmental justice calls attention to prisons, jails, and other carceral facilities as sites key to understanding and transforming environmental injustices. Thus far, however, limited research has examined water provision in carceral facilities. Methods: This study leverages spatial methods to identify the water systems serving 325 California carceral facilities. We then compare water system characteristics and performance measures across 4250 water systems categorized into three system types: carceral water systems, partially carceral-serving water systems, and other water systems. Results: Three-quarters of matched California carceral facilities are served by neighboring water systems (i.e., partially carceral-serving systems). The remaining 58 carceral water systems are more likely to be failing or at-risk of failing to meet drinking water standards and to be regulated as noncommunity water systems, compared to their partially carceral-serving counterparts. Carceral systems are also more likely to have had recent monitoring violations and be at elevated technical, managerial, and financial capacity risk. We document shared challenges across carceral and other water systems while highlighting the unique impediments incarcerated people face in remediating water challenges. Discussion and Conclusion: By identifying the water providers for carceral facilities in California and comparing systems across populations served, we make visible water challenges facing both incarcerated and free people. Our findings reveal both similarities and disparities across water systems, as well as key regulatory differences and data gaps. In so doing, this work deepens our understanding of water challenges and opens pathways to shared organizing for water justice.