From the beginning of our national health crisis, Food & Water Action has been fighting water shutoffs. And with your help, we’ve stopped water service shutoffs across the country — in states like New York and Oregon — for 63% of the U.S. population, protecting about 206 million people.
But unfortunately, these actions are just temporary. At least three statewide and 41 local water moratoria have already expired. This means that more than 12 million people have lost the protections we helped win. Many more moratoria are slated to lapse in the next month.
That’s why we need a nationwide moratorium on water shutoffs now. Public health depends on access to water, to keep ourselves and our communities safe. Congress needs to take action.
Water shutoffs aren’t only an issue of public health, they’re also an issue of racial and environmental justice. The highest shutoff rates occur in low-income communities and communities of color.
According to new research, water rates have increased by an average of 80% since 2010 with two-in-five households struggling to pay for water, leaving millions of Americans with unaffordable water bills.1 We’ve also found that Black communities face some of the most unaffordable water bills in the country. Households that had their water shut off during the pandemic were already struggling to make ends meet.
Longstanding racial inequities are allowing COVID-19 to sicken and kill Black and Indigenous people in wildly disproportionate numbers. The pandemic, together with the urgent demand for social, racial and environmental justice, has made it clear: Withholding water costs lives.
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
