Objectives. To evaluate universal access to clean drinking water by characterizing relationships between community sociodemographics and water contaminants in California domestic well areas (DWAs) and community water systems (CWSs). Methods. We integrated domestic well locations, CWS service boundaries, residential parcels, building footprints, and 2013–2017 American Community Survey data to estimate sociodemographic characteristics for DWAs and CWSs statewide. We derived mean drinking and groundwater contaminant concentrations of arsenic, nitrate, and hexavalent chromium (Cr[VI]) between 2011 and 2019 and used multivariate models to estimate relationships between sociodemographic variables and contaminant concentrations. Results. We estimated that more than 1.3 million Californians (3.4%) use domestic wells and more than 370 000 Californians rely on drinking water with average contaminant concentrations at or above regulatory standards for 1 or more of the contaminants considered. Higher proportions of people of color were associated with greater drinking water contamination. Conclusions. Poor water quality disproportionately impacts communities of color in California, with the highest estimated arsenic, nitrate, and Cr(VI) concentrations in areas of domestic well use. Domestic well communities must be included in efforts to achieve California’s Human Right to Water. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):88–97. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306561 )

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Understanding past and projected drought patterns across Central America’s ‘Dry Corridor’ (CADC) is crucial for adaptation planning and impact mitigation, especially in small-scale agricultural communities. We analyzed historical and predicted drought patterns in the CADC by calculating Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) values from local rain gauge records, reanalysis data and a 20-member ensemble of bias-corrected, downscaled CMIP-5 GCMs at both seasonal (3 month) and annual (12 month) scales. Trends in drought frequency, duration, intensity were assessed for three, 30 year future periods compared to historical values. Our results suggest a decrease in mean annual rainfall of 8%–14% in the CADC under moderate to high emissions scenarios, respectively, by end-of-century (2071–2100) relative to a historical baseline (1950–2005). However, projected changes to drought characteristics under these scenarios are more pronounced, with seasonal-scale droughts projected to lengthen by 12%–30%, intensify by 17%–42% and increase in frequency by 21%–24% by end-of-century. Annual-scale, longer-term droughts are projected to lengthen by 68% under moderate emissions, potentially triple in length under high emissions and to intensify by 27%–74%. These results were similar yet slightly more pronounced for some drought metrics when just considering rainy/cropping season months (May–Oct). End-of-century changes to rainfall reliability and drought occurrence such as these would severely impact millions of vulnerable inhabitants in the CADC and should be considered in adaptation policymaking efforts.

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