THIRSTY FOR JUSTICE: PROMISING WATER JUSTICE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT

Sep 26

Water fuels our economy, grows our food, protects our health, and sustains our natural places. Water safety, access, and reliability are key concerns for many communities in the United States and effectively stewarding water resources is essential to our future(1). In recent years, we have made significant investments to improve water access and infrastructure. We have authorized billions of dollars of federal funding via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to update infrastructure; passed a historic low-income water affordability needs assessment; and expanded protections against forever chemicals, which have made their way into most of our waterways and bloodstreams. Nonetheless, the next American President must address additional major water challenges to ensure we have safe and reliable water for all.

Across the country, too many communities are faced with contamination in their drinking water. This coincides with the decline of fish and wildlife and the rising uncertainty in water supplies for farming and industry. In addition, rising water bills are making drinking water increasingly unaffordable for many low-income households.These challenges are compounded by income inequality, perceived price inflation, and the intensification of droughts, floods, and wildfires due to climate change.

Despite these challenges, opportunities abound for the next President to dramatically improve our nation’s water future. We suggest three key water priorities to shape the next President’s approach on water. These priorities will help to focus efforts across the administration to solve our country’s most pressing water challenges, while also lowering costs for hardworking families and building out an economy for all.

THREE KEY WATER PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT

1. Make water safe and affordable for all.

2. Invest in water solutions for communities that need it most.

3. Plan for the future, not the past.

Priority #1: Lower Costs for All Communities in the United States by Making Water Affordable for All

The next Administration must lower skyrocketing water utility costs for communities in the United States. Water rates have continued to rise faster than inflation, forcing more families to choose between paying their water bill and paying for other essential expenses. While there is federal financial assistance for energy, food, and housing, there is no permanent federal program to provide low-income water assistance. Going forward, we must lower household water costs.

To achieve this, we urge the next Administration to take the following executive actions:

Direct the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency to increase efforts to hold polluting industries accountable for costs to clean up contaminations which increase expenses for utilities and water bills for families, and install treatment to ensure that all drinking water is safe.
Convene a Water Affordability and Equity Commission to develop whole-of-government approaches to making and keeping water safe and affordable for all.
Direct the Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant agencies, to collect and publish data on water costs, household water debt, water system financial capacity, and other metrics to track affordability.
We also request the next Administration to work with Congress to take the following actions:
Temporarily extend and expand the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program and fund with $2B to eliminate water debts and end practices like water shutoffs for 2025 and 2026, to bridge the gap until there is a permanent program.
Pass and fund a permanent Low-Income Water Assistance Program bill to make water more affordable for all Americans.
Priority # 2: Invest in Historically-Disenfranchised Communities through Water Infrastructure
In addition to lowering costs, the next Administration must continue to right the wrongs of the past, where federal actions have disenfranchised low-income, Black, and Brown communities. Many frontline communities across the United States struggle and worry about accessing water, or whether their water will be clean enough to drink and bathe in. Addressing the water crisis is fundamental to enabling our communities to benefit from investment in jobs, infrastructure, and housing. The initial funding through the BIL was a good start, but will run out in 2026 and is insufficient to meet the growing needs for further investment to resolve these water issues. Increasing the federal budget to include more grant dollars for water would not only allow for the replacement of pipes, pumps, and tanks, but also support technical assistance, community engagement, workforce development, IT upgrades and security, and keep rates affordable for working class families.

Finally, more must be done to make the existing State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) process more equitable and accessible for small, underserved communities that have traditionally been unable to access investment or denied investment due to their status as low-income communities of color and due to the reliance on loans to finance projects. Access to safe water through SRF grants will improve health, lower bills, create good jobs, and enable our communities to develop more housing and jobs to lift up all.

To achieve this, we urge the next Administration to take the following executive actions:

Direct EPA to track and evaluate financial and technical assistance to disadvantaged community water systems as part of its oversight of state drinking water and wastewater programs, and share results publicly.
Create requirements for input from community advisory committees and additional public information around state drinking water funding policies and allocations.
Ensure all climate resilience programs include water access as part of their actions and that all climate and water programs are covered programs under Justice 40.
We also request the next Administration to work with Congress to take the following actions:
Invest $200 billion over the next ten years into the drinking water and clean water SRFs, with more funding available as grants to communities to help lower water rates into the future.
Improve the SRFs by expanding access to technical assistance to include community outreach and engagement for high-risk drinking water and wastewater systems to design community-driven long-term solutions.
Allow the SRFs to fund operations and maintenance costs for disadvantaged communities to ensure projects are feasible and affordable over the long term.
Priority #3: Proactively address threats to water security, including climate extremes, contamination, and ecosystem degradation.
The water and wastewater sector is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including more intense droughts, floods, and rising sea levels. Addressing these growing threats requires proactive approaches to communications, planning, infrastructure development, and emergency response.
To achieve a climate resilient water and wastewater sector, we urge the next Administration to take the following executive actions:
Require that climate resilience be incorporated in the planning and evaluation of all drinking water and wastewater projects that receive federal financial assistance from programs that EPA, FEMA, HUD, DOI, and USDA administer.
Require all federal agencies to prioritize climate risk mitigation, and provide greater review and oversight roles for EPA, NMFS, and NOAA fisheries to ensure climate resilience and equity protections in projects built or operated by USACE and Reclamation.
Support the ongoing US National Climate Assessments. These reports provide the best scientific assessment of the risks of climate change.
Require that federal agency climate communications account for linguistic and cultural diversity, such as FEMA’s listo.gov initiative.
We also request the next Administration to work with Congress to take the following actions:
Revise and modernize the federal National Flood Insurance Program to increase protections from changing flood risks and discourage development or redevelopment in vulnerable areas.
Strengthen water quality protection requirements for infrastructure projects receiving federal funding.

CONCLUSION

The choices that the next administration makes will shape our shared water future. The incoming President will need a team of respected leaders to focus on a shared set of priorities to address the challenges before us, and move water management into the twenty-first century. She or he has a great opportunity to help our country thrive, and should call upon water leaders across America to partner in these efforts. For any questions, please contact Kyle Jones at kyle.jones@communitywatercenter.org or (916) 539-0133.

Sincerely,

Susana De Anda

Executive Director & Co-Founder

Community Water Center

Dr. Juliet Christian-Smith

Western States Director

Union of Concerned Scientists

Monica Lewis-Patrick

President & CEO

We the People of Detroit

Dr. Val Z. Schüll

Water Equity and Ocean Program Director