Background
During its August 18, 2020 meeting, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) publicly acknowledged that the historical effects of institutional racism must be confronted throughout government, and it directed staff to develop a priority plan of action (Aug 18, 2020 Meeting Agenda, Recording). The State Water Board’s Racial Equity Team held public and employee listening sessions to help develop a draft resolution. After a public comment period on the draft resolution in spring 2021, the Racial Equity Team made significant updates to the resolution. On November 16, 2021, the State Water Board adopted Resolution No. 2021-0050, “Condemning Racism, Xenophobia, Bigotry, and Racial Injustice and Strengthening Commitment to Racial Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Access, and Anti-Racism” (Racial Equity Resolution) which affirms the State Water Board’s commitment to racial equity and directs staff to undertake a variety of actions to achieve racial equity throughout all State Water Board programs and activities (Nov 16, 2021 Meeting Agenda, Recording).
The Racial Equity Resolution is one milestone on our ongoing journey to operationalize equity throughout our organization. The next step is to implement the Racial Equity Action Plan, which includes specific actions the State Water Board will take to address racial inequities, as well as metrics to measure our progress. With this Action Plan, we envision a sustainable California where race no longer predicts where clean water is available or who has access to it.
It’s important to note that racial equity and equity in general is an outcome and there is no such thing as a “racial equity data-set” or “racial equity data”.
Instead we should think of data as a tool to help us achieve the overall outcome of equity - and how we view, use, and act on data and related tools is what will determine whether we operationalize equity or perpetuate injustice.
Development of the Racial Equity Action Plan began in Spring 2022 and involved public and employee engagement and tribal consultations. The Water Boards’ Racial Equity Team presented the Racial Equity Action Plan (2023-2025) to the State Water Board as an informational item at the Board Meeting on January 18, 2023 (Agenda, Slides, Recording).
Goal 1a of the Racial Equity Action Plan is to ensure Water Boards data are accessible, equitable, and culturally relevant. One action captured under that goal is the development of a Racial Equity Data Action Plan which must:
Develop training and best practices guidance for Water Boards staff on incorporating racial equity concepts into the planning and design of data collection methods and visualizations (e.g., maps, factsheets, etc.) projects.
Identify and expand existing opportunities for public participation in science and community data gathering programs to develop new data collection methods, support existing programs, and incorporate community datasets into the database.
Create a publicly accessible data catalog tool / interface that includes existing demographic data, Water Boards program data, and other available data (such as heat maps or flood hazard maps) to inform the implementation of the Racial Equity Action Plan.
The Racial Equity Data Action Plan is being developed by the Water Board’s Racial Equity Data Subcommittee of the Environmental Justice Roundtable which is a group of volunteer staff from across the Water Board led by the Office of Information Management and Analysis and the Office of Public Participation. This Handbook is intended to address Item 1 above by providing staff a best practices guide for incorporating racial equity concepts into the Water Board programs using data and information. Item 2 above will be iterative and grow as staff and programs begin to utilize the guidance and tools found within this handbook. To fulfill Item 3 above staff have created a California Water Boards Racial Equity Data Resource Hub which will grow as more programs create and publish racial equity based tools and visualizations.