Water Equity

Water services affordability in the context of the COVID recession

• Learning opportunities and resources
  • Water Affordability Community of Practice for city leaders – webinar on 12/17
  • Aspen-Nichols Water Forum summary: Long-Term Water Affordability & Financial Resilience

• Shutoff Solution Cases
  • Detroit water shutoff ban extended to 2022, may become permanent

• Customer Assistance Program Improvement/Debt Forgiveness Cases
  • Buffalo offers parking ticket, water bill amnesty; traffic fines based on income (shutoffs penalties forgiveness ends Dec 31^st)
  • South Bend case study: Wastewater Low-Income Customer Assistance Program
  • San Francisco switched to self-reporting income to improve access to their emergency CAP
  • Seattle also changed the flexibility of their emergency CAP – customers put less down and have an extended time period to pay
  • LADWP redirected CARES funding to provide $500 grants to customers
  • Greater Cincinnati Water Works Economic Hardship Water Debt Forgiveness Program

• Fundamental Rate Structure / Systems-level adjustment Cases
  • Legal Pathways to Income-Based Drinking Water Rates in Michigan (released April 2020)