The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The State Department of Health Services has discovered toxic chemicals in 126 of California’s large public drinking water systems.
(b) Many of the chemical contaminants in California’s drinking water supplies are known or suspected of causing cancer, birth defects, and other serious illnesses.
(c) New monitoring programs for small public water systems are expected to identify many new toxic contamination problems. It is unlikely that these problems can be solved without financial assistance from the State of California.
(Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 45, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 81 at the November 8, 1988, election.)