This US Water Alliance briefing paper, “An Equitable Water Future,” highlights the connections between water management and vulnerable American communities. While water challenges are often considered in the context of failing infrastructure or environmental pollution, the report offers “a robust analysis of the often-overlooked human dimension of water management, with a focus on how water can expand opportunity for the nation’s most vulnerable people.”
The Alliance identifies the ways in which water issues disproportionately impact vulnerable communities and highlights the potential to leverage water systems to build water equity. Among the water system challenges described are aging and inadequate infrastructure, affordability, climate impacts, siting of hazardous facilities and engaging public participation.
More than 100 real world examples are included in the paper, including many initiatives involving AMWA members and their communities.