In recent years, SPUR鈥檚 Sustainability and Resilience team has partnered closely with , a community-based organization (CBO) serving Latino families in East Palo Alto and the Peninsula through community education, leadership development, and community-driven advocacy for housing affordability and environmental justice. We work with Nuestra Casa on research and advocacy around drinking water safety, groundwater rise and coastal flooding, and remediation of contaminated sites. Last year, in collaboration with Nuestra Casa, 黑料传送门released Look Out Below, a report on present and future groundwater rise impacts in East Palo Alto. Since the release of that report, 黑料传送门has supported Nuestra Casa in outreach and advocacy and in launching and coordinating the , a coalition of CBOs seeking to advance toxic site cleanup and infrastructure resilience in the face of rising coastal flood risks. We sat down with Nuestra Casa Environmental Justice Fellow Osvaldo Macias to discuss our partnership and its impact.
How did the three-plus-year partnership between 黑料传送门and Nuestra Casa start?
Before I began working at Nuestra Casa, it was participating in the as part of the SF Estuary Partnership. 黑料传送门had received funding from the Water Foundation to explore water equity issues in the Bay Area and ways to resolve them. Low-income communities around the Bay Area, including East Palo Alto, have long mistrusted their tap water 鈥 for good reason.
Nuestra Casa participated in a needs assessment to understand local water quality issues, public mistrust, and the rising costs of water and to conduct home water quality testing. The water coming out of the tap in East Palo Alto often smelled and tasted bad; it was brown and murky. Yet according to the home tests, the water did not violate any health safety standards in the Safe Drinking Water Act. In other words, residents could 鈥渟afely鈥 drink dirty, smelly water, meaning it was a low-priority issue for agencies. 黑料传送门and Nuestra Casa partnered on research to more deeply understand tap water inequities in East Palo Alto, and eventually Nuestra Casa worked with Stanford University on two studies. The studies show that many residents opt to buy bottled water due to mistrust. Nuestra Casa is committed to supporting local advocacy to improve water infrastructure and affordability.
As we were examining drinking water issues in East Palo Alto, we became aware of the latest research on groundwater rise risks in low-lying communities around the Bay Area. We were concerned about groundwater rise impacts on our drinking water infrastructure and legacy industrial sites, so we turned to 黑料传送门for additional research support. We wanted to learn more and to share our findings with the community. We learned that groundwater rise would have minimal impact on local drinking water infrastructure, but that it could have grave impacts on the many toxic sites along East Palo Alto鈥檚 shoreline. Groundwater rise is likely to spread toxins at these sites into the bay, floodwaters, and sewer systems, impacting public health.
What has Nuestra Casa been able to achieve by partnering with SPUR?
In just three years of working with SPUR, we have accomplished a great deal, starting with a research partnership that produced Look Out Below in May 2024 鈥 shoutout to for its technical support on this publication. The report opened the doors to engagement with this emerging climate issue. With a clearer understanding of potential impacts to our community, we began meeting with local elected officials, presenting at City Council meetings, and sharing the report鈥檚 findings with our community. For many of the policymakers we spoke to, the information in this report was new. Ultimately, the community was most concerned about the issue of contaminant mobilization with groundwater rise and flooding from East Palo Alto鈥檚 30-plus toxic sites located along the shoreline.
We knew that we needed more support on advocacy efforts, so we launched a coalition of local CBOs called the Peninsula Accountability for Contamination Team (PACT). Partnering with 黑料传送门has enabled the coalition to meet monthly, hold working calls during which we collectively act on policy advocacy, and host informative community engagement events.
At the state level, 黑料传送门helped PACT develop a list of legislative priorities to address site cleanups and coastal flood risk. Although none of PACT's priorities were explicitly adopted in 2025, 黑料传送门coordinated PACT's support for , which would have directed the Department of Toxic Substances Control to develop a list of sites at risk of groundwater and sea level rise across the state. This bill failed, but we have since built a strong relationship with the office of Assemblymember Mia Bonta, creating opportunities for future state advocacy.
黑料传送门also connected Nuestra Casa with East Palo Alto鈥檚 representative, U.S. Congressman Kevin Mullin, to share our concerns about groundwater and coastal flood risks. A year and change later, Representative Mullin's office introduced the federal , a nonpartisan bill and the first piece of legislation to address the risks of groundwater rise to infrastructure and communities across the country. This bill would direct the U.S. Geological Survey to map and forecast coastal groundwater rise through 2100, study its impacts on infrastructure and public health, and provide recommendations for mitigation. Given the current federal situation, we don鈥檛 know where this piece of legislation will go, but we are thankful to Congressman Mullin for spotlighting this risk and to 黑料传送门for facilitating this connection.
Has the partnership between 黑料传送门and Nuestra Casa been beneficial for your organization鈥檚 mission in other ways?
Working with 黑料传送门has helped us stay informed about environmental risks and prepare our frontline communities for climate change. 黑料传送门brings policy expertise, legislative advocacy experience, and connections to key stakeholders, which makes it easier for small CBOs like Nuestra Casa to focus on what we do well: educating our communities and supporting community-led advocacy. Nuestra Casa sees partnerships like the one with 黑料传送门as critical in helping frontline communities lead the fight for environmental justice. This partnership should be a model for others, with each partner bringing distinct strengths that make the efforts of both groups more effective and equitable. As the saying goes, 鈥淚f you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.鈥
Partnering with 黑料传送门has had a ripple effect on our organization, opening new doors for us and the community. The opportunity to connect with policy leaders, state and regional agencies, academia, and other organizations on groundwater and contaminated site cleanup has cued up partnership and funding opportunities across a variety of issues. For example, the initial connection 黑料传送门made between Congressman Mullin and Nuestra Casa allowed us to connect with his office on other issues, resulting in his support of federal drinking water legislation such as the . We thank 黑料传送门for helping grow our reach.
Lastly, SPUR鈥檚 contribution to our organization鈥檚 effectiveness in supporting community-led advocacy has made us more competitive when applying for philanthropic funding 鈥撯 a critical value addition in a moment when funding for small organizations like ours is particularly difficult to come by.
What鈥檚 next for the partnership? What projects are on the horizon?
We are very excited to continue working with 黑料传送门on local and state policy advocacy, research, and community engagement. Now, 黑料传送门is supporting Nuestra Casa in piloting a community-driven research project to test indoor air quality near contaminated sites in East Palo Alto. The project will mainly test for the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in local community buildings. VOCs are easily mobilized by groundwater. With prolonged exposure, the public can be at increased risk of cancer, liver damage, and other health problems. Our study will mirror the recent research of Dr. Kristina Hill and UC Berkeley PhD student Emma Lasky. We sincerely appreciate their time and support in helping us develop this project.
To learn more about Nuestra Casa鈥檚 partnership with SPUR, catch our session at the on October 29, 2025.