SAN LUCAS, Calif. - For some local students, required school supplies include paper, pens, and drinking cups.
The 70 San Lucas students line up several times a day to fill-up on purified water from 5 gallon jugs.
The kids aren't drinking out of reusable cups and bottles to be eco-friendly, it's because they have to.
For two years San Lucas Elementary teachers and parents have been told their students can't drink the tap water.
The entire town was informed their drinking water contained dangerous levels of nitrates and residents are still waiting for a permanent solution.
"We are buying bottled water every week for our students and staff. It's running us about 7 or 800 dollars a month," said San Lucas Union School District Principal Nicole Hester.
Scientists say the drinking water woes of rural communities up and down the Central Coast go back decades.
In some rural communities, any pesticides or nitrates from fertilizers have gotten directly into the drinking water.
Nitrates are thought to be most dangerous to babies under 6 months and pregnant women. In others, nitrates are expected carcinogens.
San Lucas residents prepared demands to the State Water Board to find some viable options for clean drinking water. Not just for people here, but all over the Central Coast.
This week, lawmakers discussed the immediate problem: the money set aside for projects isn't making it to the communities.
"There's over 463 million dollars of clean drinking water funding that is sitting in accounts," said Assemblymember Henry Perea (Fresno).
