USDA rural water spending fails to close racial water gap 2023 Farm Bill an opportunity to advance water justice
For Immediate Release
May 8, 2023
Contact:
Kelsey Hinton, Community Water Center, kelsey.hinton@communitywatercenter.org, (765) 729-1674
USDA rural water spending fails to close racial water gap 2023 Farm Bill an opportunity to advance water justice
FRESNO, Calif. – Today, in honor of Drinking Water Week, Community Water Center (CWC) released a new report analyzing the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) investments in water and wastewater infrastructure projects in rural communities. The report found that only 15% of funded projects were in majority Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and of the almost $10 billion invested, just $1.4 billion made it to majority-BIPOC communities.
“Race is the most important predictor of access to safe water and sanitation in the United States,” said Susana De Anda, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Community Water Center. “In order to deliver on the human right to water for every U.S. resident, we need agencies like the USDA to prioritize spending in Black, Indigenous and Latinx communities that have suffered from decades of intentional disinvestment.”
The USDA’s Rural Development Water and Environmental Programs are critical because multiple studies have shown that rural water systems are more likely to violate water safety standards.
Black and Latinx households are almost twice as likely to lack complete plumbing as white households, and Native American households are 19 times more likely to lack complete plumbing. Communities of color are also more likely to be served by water systems that fail to meet safety standards. These disparities exist and persist due to disinvestment, regulatory failures and other structural factors. Yet communities with larger populations of color often receive less funding from key federal water programs.
Coming out just two weeks after President Biden’s Executive Order on “Environmental Justice for All” this report identifies opportunities for the USDA to spend rural development water funds more equitably.
“The Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative is an opportunity to close the rural water access gap that has left so many communities of color in hotspots like California’s Central Valley, the Texas Colonias and Navajo Nation and Lowndes County, AL living with toxic taps and raw sewage,” said Jenny Rempel, the report’s lead author. “But, doing that will require good data, solid community partnerships, targeted spending and sufficient resources.”
The report outlines four key recommendations for the USDA:
Conduct a robust racial equity analysis of its WEP investments
Continue to build trusting and collaborative relationships with environmental justice and community-based organizations
Proactively, publicly, and transparently identify communities that may need assistance accessing safe water and sanitation
Increase funding, especially grants and low-interest loans, through the Farm Bill that funds USDA’s water work
“Recognizing the central role clean water plays in protecting health, the Biden Administration and Congress have made historic investments in our nation’s public plumbing. This year’s Farm Bill is a chance to build on that foundation and make sure long-neglected Black, Indigenous and People of Color rural communities can also access federal support for safe water and sanitation,” said Celina Mahabir, Federal Policy Advocate for Community Water Center.
The full report can be downloaded here.
About Community Water Center: CWC works to ensure that all communities have reliable access to safe, clean, and affordable water. Founded in 2006, CWC is a nonprofit environmental justice organization, whose mission is to act as a catalyst for community-driven water solutions through education, organizing, and advocacy.
