Day 7: Monterey

This morning we had the long drive from Three Rivers to Monterey, and after arriving, we immediately met with representatives from the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water. We had connected with them through Amanda, and we were very excited to talk to them about their experience being very directly involved with the water situation in their community.

Starting the conversation, they asked about the situation in our home community, Houston, and how it differed from what we had seen in California. We acknowledged that it is not seen as a very pressing issue in Houston due to the high amount of rain we have gotten in the past few years. They discussed the many issues they are working on in the Salinas valley. As a primarily agricultural sector, there is a large necessity for migrant workers in the valley, however, wages to not compare to the very high cost of living here. Because of this, people will live where they have to, which is why so many people end up living in communities where their only source of water is contaminated with poisonous nitrates. We learned how this is mainly due to farmers using much more fertilizer than what is necessary. They further discussed how trying to remove the nitrates is like trying to take dirt out of a bathtub while putting more in at the same time. Because of the way the nitrates form and stabilize in the water source, even if no more nitrates were added, the water source would be contaminated for decades due to this legacy contamination. They further discussed the challenges of working with migrant populations and undocumented people as in many cases they would not want to rock the boat.

After this very interesting and engaging discussion, we made our way to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium for a tour with Eric, the head engineer who oversees the water in the aquarium. With him we had a tour of the water systems and how they use their own desalination plant to produce fresh water. Then we spoke to Letise, a policy worker for the aquarium, and learned about the advantages and disadvantages of desalination plants.

After leaving the aquarium, we made our way to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Monterrey. There we spoke with community advocates about the connection between water and oil. Specifically, we talked about fracking and its impact on nearby water sources.

Reflection

It was really interesting to talk to the representatives from the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water as I got a much better understanding of how difficult that kind of work can be. It was so evident how the policies negatively affected the poorest and most disadvantaged of people in our country. Throughout this discussion, and really the entirely of this trip, my eyes were opened to the importance of education and involvement in politics. Understanding who you are voting for and what their interests are can make a huge difference for the people in your community.