Farmworkers along California’s Central Coast lack housing

More and more farmworkers have arrived in California’s coastal areas in the last year but find too few houses for themselves and their families.

Unnumbered letter changes credit and student loan considerations in FY19

USDA Rural Development published an Unnumbered Letter (UL) dated Feb. 25, 2019 changing the way credit will be evaluated and Student Loan Income Based Payments will be handled during FY19. It also emphasizes the previous permanent authorization regarding Oral Verifications of Employment. 

Agricultural run-off taints water in historic California San Joaquin Valley town

Allensworth in California’s San Joaquin Valley, now Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, was founded in 1908 by Colonel Allen Allensworth, a former slave and American Civil War Union officer. At the time, artesian wells produced clear water and crops flourished; Allensworth dreamed of creating a black utopia.

Lead still threatens many American school water systems

A lack of regulation, political will and funding have all led to contaminated drinking water for many schools around the country, and researchers note that children are particularly vulnerable to the chemical.

U.S. Supreme Court to consider groundwater contamination with respect to Clean Water Act

The U.S. Clean Water Act, which Congress passed nearly a half-century ago, prohibits pollution in navigable bodies of water, but now the Supreme Court justices will examine whether indirect contamination—specifically in groundwater—is in violation of the landmark legislation.