Call into the meeting of the California State Water Resources Control Board today or tomorrow to oppose its "2023-2025 Racial Equity Action Plan."

Couched in ideological euphemisms such as "equitable outcomes," "institutional racism," and "racial injustice," this new plan by the State Water Board is the latest example of politicization and racialization of public policies.

Targeting "Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities" as the main stakeholder considered, the action plan spells out strategic directions and specific goals so that "a racial equity lens is consistently applied to Water Board's decision-making processes."

In addition to concrete steps to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings into the state agency, the plan also sets goals and metrics to ensure that "Water Board employees at all organizational levels reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of California." This is nothing short of unconstitutional racial balancing!

David, the California State Water Board is wasting taxpayer money and public resources on blatant race-based trainings and policies. Besides, there is little empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of DEI training.

In fact, even the New York Times is now running articles like this one to critique diversity trainings. After documenting the American DEI industry as a "$3.4 billion" market, the author argues that mandatory DEI trainings "may well have a net-negative effect on the outcomes managers claim to care about." Rather than helping the organization solve specific problems, many popular DEI programs, such as implicit bias trainings emphasized in the California Water Board plan, futilely seek "a revolutionary re-understanding of race relations" and create heightened legal risks.

The California State Board is meeting today (January 18) and tomorrow (January 19) at 9:30 am on each day. I encourage you to attend the meeting on either day and give a public comment in opposition to the "Racial Equity Action Plan," (Agenda Item 4).

You can participate in the following ways:

1. Attend remotely via this link and sign up to speak on Agenda Item 4 through this form.
2. Join the meeting in person in Coastal Hearing Room, Joe Serna Jr. - CalEPA Building at 1001 I Street, Sacramento CA.

Thank you in advance for taking action to oppose the race-based public policies and support equal treatment for all!