Our nation is facing a water affordability crisis.
Since 2010, water bills have skyrocketed 80%. Two in five households struggle to pay unaffordable bills. And now, a devastating pandemic is compounding the nation’s water affordability crisis. We need access to clean water to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe and healthy.
But utilities across the country have been shutting off the water for those who struggle with unaffordable bills. This makes everyone less safe.
Congress could solve this crisis with a new stimulus bill that includes a national moratorium on water shutoffs and overdue investments in urgent water infrastructure. But Mitch McConnell is choosing, so far, to do nothing. He even says he’ll try to stand in the way of any infrastructure spending in the next coronavirus relief bill. But we know we can change enough minds in Washington, D.C. to make a difference.
That’s why this month we’ve set a goal to raise $20,000 to launch a massive campaign to call McConnell and his cronies out. With your backing, we’ll be positioned to mobilize thousands of calls, emails, texts, handwritten letters and petitions. We’re going to flood the Capitol and do all in our power to make sure everyone in the U.S. has access to clean, affordable water. But we need your help.
Mitch McConnell has a history of indifference to the suffering caused by a lack of safe water. In 2018, we uncovered that in his home state of Kentucky, Martin County had one of the worst water crises in the country. The people there needed at least $15 billion in water infrastructure improvements to prevent system failures and keep access to clean water. McConnell has done nothing.
What’s worse? There are communities like Martin County across the U.S. Millions of our neighbors are burdened by unaffordable water bills. Yet McConnell does nothing.
Clean, affordable water is a human right. Across the country, people have been facing astronomical water service rates, water outages and contaminated water for years:
In 12 U.S. cities, the combined price of water and sewage service increased by an average of 80% between 2010 and 2018.
Up to 1.7 million people in the U.S. lack access to basics like a toilet, tub, shower, or even running water.
Almost 200,000 households have absolutely no wastewater system.
Up to 10 million homes across the U.S. get water through dangerous lead pipes.
Even before the current pandemic, communities like Martin County showed the urgent need for federal reinvestment in the nation's water system. It’s time for us to make McConnell — and Congress — do something about it.
Thanks to your support and hard work since February, 15 states and nearly 663 localities have suspended water shutoffs, protecting 206 million people. Together, we’ve saved lives. But unfortunately, many of these hard-won shutoff moratoriums are temporary. We need to keep fighting. Water should never be treated as a commodity or a luxury.
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch
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.
