The City Makes the Water: The Inequitable Relationship Between Water Affordability and Race

Abstract

The water unaffordability crisis in the United States is accelerating. This emergency is exacerbated by a nation-wide water infrastructure system that is stressed by aging infrastructure and increasing urbanization, with limited public resources available for necessary investments. The United States requires an estimated $1 trillion invested in water infrastructure over the next 25 years, which will be partially funded by rate increases on consumers (American Water and Wastewater Association 2012). High income inequality has made water increasingly unaffordable in major metropolitan areas and climate change will increase the financial burden on city populations that already struggle to pay water rates. At a household level, water affordability is determined by dividing the average water costs for a household by its income. This metric is used to guide water infrastructure investments – if water rates remain affordable for the average median income, water is deemed accessible to a population. But this metric ignores the realities that gird American society: the cities with the highest infrastructure needs, where rates will rise the most, are more likely to have higher proportions of low-income households. These same cities are likely to have higher proportions of communities of color.