DIG DEEP
US WATER ALLIANCE
Introduction
Today, more than two million Americans live without running water and basic indoor plumbing, and many more without sanitation. On the Navajo Nation in the Southwest, families drive for hours to haul barrels of water to meet their basic needs. In the Central Valley of California, residents fill bottles at public taps, because their water at home is not safe to drink. In West Virginia, people drink from polluted streams. In Alabama, parents warn their children not to play outside because their yards are flooded with sewage. In Puerto Rico, wastewater regularly floods the streets of low-income neighborhoods. Families living in Texas border towns worry because there is no running water to fight fires.
This is the reality for people living in the United States—right here and right now. While the majority of Americans take high-quality drinking water and sanitation access for granted, millions of the most vulnerable people in the country— low-income people in rural areas, people of color, tribal communities, immigrants—have fallen through the cracks. Their communities did not receive adequate water and wastewater infrastructure when the nation made historic investments in these systems in past decades. That initial lack of investment created a hidden water and sanitation crisis that continues to threaten the health and wellbeing of millions of people today.
A hundred years ago, water-borne illnesses such as cholera were a leading cause of death in the United States. Recognizing the threat to public health, our government invested in modern systems that extended safe and reliable drinking and wastewater services to nearly every American. As a result, water- and sanitation-related diseases were nearly eradicated, and public health and economic outcomes improved. The United States continued to fund water infrastructure through the late twentieth century with equally impressive results. Today, however, federal funding for water infrastructure is a small percentage of what it once was, and communities that did not benefit from past investments have a harder time catching up. Some communities even report that they are losing access to services they once had, suggesting that fewer people tomorrow will have a working tap or toilet than do today. In fact, the number of people without access to complete plumbing recently increased in six states. In contrast, Ethiopia—one of the world’s lowest-income countries—more than doubled the percentage of its population with access to water between 1990 and 2010.
The Scope of the Challenge This report focuses on US communities that lack basic access to safe drinking water and sanitation. By that we mean:
- Safe, reliable running water;
- A tap, toilet, and shower in the home; and
- A system for removing and treating wastewater.
The analysis in this report is based on American Community Survey (ACS) data from the US Census Bureau. The ACS is the only dataset on water access collected at the national level, but it has limitations—for example, the survey asks whether households have running water and indoor plumbing (a tap, toilet, and shower in the home), but it does not ask whether water service is affordable or reliable. Nor does the ACS ask whether households have wastewater services.
In order to help fill gaps in the quantitative data, this report provides qualitative data on six regions that face water and sanitation access challenges: California’s Central Valley, the Navajo Nation, the Texas colonias, rural areas in the South, Appalachia, and Puerto Rico.
The United States is a resilient and creative nation. Communities that lack water access have shown extraordinary tenacity in the face of these challenges. In Appalachia, local food banks are using atmospheric water generation technology to get drinking water to those who need it. In rural parts of the South, communities are exploring alternative wastewater treatment strategies. And in California, local organizations are successfully advocating for transformative policy and funding changes.5 Some of these approaches are interim measures to protect public health; others are long-term, sustainable solutions. These communities demonstrate that with dedicated resources, ingenuity, cross-sector partnerships, increased public awareness, and political will, the water access gap can be closed for good.
This report shines a light on America’s hidden water crisis and proposes a plan of action. It is the most comprehensive analysis of water and sanitation access in the United States to date, and it identifies promising, community-centered solutions that can help us extend water services to all people.
This report is organized in the following manner:
- What the Data Tell Us defines equitable water access and explores the scope of the challenge using quantitative data analysis;
- Who is Affected describes water access challenges in six diverse regions of the US, using on-the-ground qualitative research; and
- What to Do About It lays out four principles and priorities for action to achieve universal water access in our lifetimes.
The United States is one of the most prosperous democracies on earth, with the opportunity, the resources, and the responsibility to close the water access gap. Together, we can ensure safe water and clean sanitation for all in our lifetimes.
Download full version (PDF): Closing the Water Gap in the United States
About Dig Deep
https://digdeep.org/
“DIGDEEP is not a water charity. We’re a human rights non-profit working to ensure that every American has clean, running water forever.”
About the US Water Alliance
http://uswateralliance.org/
“The US Water Alliance advances policies and programs that build a sustainable water future for all.”
Tags: Dig Deep, drinking water, US Water Alliance
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