Congress cannot allow drinking water to become unaffordable in rural communities
While Congress works toward some resolution on infrastructure spending, communities that most need those infrastructure dollars are hurting. Years of dwindling investments in drinking water infrastructure have left many water systems in disrepair. These failing water systems are expensive to run, causing rates to rise. As a result, drinking water has become simply unaffordable for far too many families.
Martin County offers a stark example. Because of years of mismanagement, the county’s water system is now so dilapidated that it loses nearly 70% of the water produced. The worn-out pumps and valves needed to carry water across the county’s mountainous terrain regularly fail. There are no backups. Pump failures caused residents of the county to go without water for weeks this summer. Boil water advisories are common. The district estimates that it needs $40 million in additional funding just to stabilize the water system and address water loss.
The failing infrastructure also means that the cost of providing water to residents of Martin County has ballooned, leaving county residents with one of the highest water rates in the state. One in three of the nearly 3500 households served by the district are in poverty. According to Roger Colton, an expert in utility affordability, water bills in the county are so unaffordable that “access to water as a basic human need is threatened for the county’s most vulnerable populations.” Water bills for low-income households are 4 to 5 times what is considered affordable. As a result, families are losing drinking water access. In the last three years, one in three households in the county has had service terminated and one in ten households has had water service permanently disconnected due to nonpayment.
Martin County’s problems of failing infrastructure and unaffordable service are too common in rural America. Many rural water systems are in crisis, and the pandemic is exacerbating existing hardships. These systems were especially hit hard by the economic downturn last year; the National Rural Water Association estimated that rural systems faced nearly $1 billion in losses by mid-July 2020. Even before the pandemic, studies found that rural communities are much more likely to have drinking water quality violations, and small rural systems were struggling with basic upkeep and investments.
Overall, the nation needs $744 billion over the next 20 years for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Legislation like the WATER Act, which has more than 90 cosponsors in Congress, would fully meet that need. In contrast, the Senate bipartisan infrastructure bill includes only $48.4 billion over five years.
But even if Congressional appropriations are sufficient, relief, in the form of lower bills, will not come quickly enough. Thus far, Martin County has only spent about $2 million of the $8.5 million in water infrastructure funding it received in 2018. There will always be a lag between the time money is appropriated and when improvements are made. In the meantime, costs and rates will increase. That’s why, in addition to funding drinking water infrastructure, Congress must fund low-income water affordability programs.
This fall the new Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) will be rolled out, which will provide customer assistance for water bills in much the same way that LIHEAP provides assistance for heating. But, the $1.1 billion appropriation for that funding is likely to be exhausted in less than one year. It is not nearly enough. Congress has the opportunity to provide more funding for water affordability programs in the Build Back Better Act. The newly released house bill contains just $225 million for water affordability. We urge the Senate to do more. We urge the Senate to include $550 million in additional funding for LIHWAP and to act quickly to address the water affordability crisis sweeping across rural America.
Rebecca Shelton is the director of policy and organizing at the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center.