Browsing by Subject "Affordability"

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Open Access
Increasing Water Affordability through a Statewide Customer Assistance Program in California
(2023-04-28) Lee, Jennifer
California has adopted a statewide policy where “every human being has the right to clean, safe, affordable, and accessible water.” Yet having the right to clean and affordable water is not the same as having clean and affordable water. Customer assistance programs (CAP) can offer financial relief and bridge the gap to making water more affordable for everyone. Many water utilities offer rebates, subsidies, high bill adjustments, and other financial programs to help offset the cost of water utility bills. While these programs vary by water supplier, California legislators have introduced a statewide water rate assistance program. However, this bill was ultimately vetoed by the governor due to a lack of sustainable funding source. Regardless, water affordability remains an important issue and this project analyzes different options for a statewide CAP, quantifies how much it would cost, and evaluate if it is affordable for low-income households.
Open Access
Quantifying Racial Disparities in Water Affordability
(2021-04-30) Sayed, Sara; Smith, Hannah
Water services are essential‚ for all populations, yet the affordability of water has emerged as a major challenge faced by community water systems. While water costs rise for an increasing number of public water utility customers, there is no mandate to ensure equitable affordability, only guidelines by the EPA. Under EPA guidance, the metric for water affordability was previously based on water costs as a percentage of median household income for the entire area served by a water system. Recently developed metrics quantify the water affordability burden with greater attention to lower income households. Specifically, the Household Burden Index‚ measures the cost of water services as a percentage of low-income households’ annual income. In addition to examining water affordability, it is also essential to assess the presence of inequalities between racial and ethnic groups. As such, this study examines racial and ethnic disparities in the affordability of water services in North Carolina. To determine the racial and ethnic composition of a water utility, this study implements a novel method of fitting block group level US Census data within water utility boundaries established with newly digitized service boundary maps. The study concludes there is a modest but significant correlation between low affordability of water services and higher proportion of black and Hispanic residents in a block group. Community water systems should apply our findings to affordability planning in their service areas.