Giving Compass' Take:
- According to a report, the water crises in the U.S., from Flint to Newark, came as a shock to some, but lack of access to clean water is more common across the country than it seems.
- How can donors help to end poor sanitation in America and globally? What can we do to address these issues, both in the private and public sectors?
- Learn about nature-based solutions for urgent water challenges.
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The US has one of the world’s most reliable water and wastewater systems, yet 2 million people lack running water and basic indoor plumbing.
The nonprofit organizations DigDeep and US Water Alliance released “Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States: A National Action Plan” on Wednesday, according to Market Watch. Access to clean water and sanitation tends to be determined by race and levels of poverty, the organizations found.
“Vulnerable communities disproportionately lack access to water and sanitation, in part due to discriminatory practices embedded in some past water infrastructure development initiatives,” the report said.
Millions of the country’s most vulnerable communities — including low-income people in rural areas, people of color, Native communities, and immigrants — don’t have these basic rights, according to the report.
DigDeep and US Water Alliance analyzed data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. They also conducted qualitative research on regions that struggle with adequate water and sanitation access, including Navajo Nation, California’s Central Valley, the Texas colonias, Appalachia, Puerto Rico, and the rural south.
Read the full article about water and sanitation in the United States by Leah Rodriguez at Global Citizen.