Setting the Agenda: A Mayor’s Guide to Water Affordability

Jenkins, C., M. Young-Jones, and M. Braunginn. Setting the Agenda: A Mayor’s Guide to Water Affordability. Mayors Innovation Project.

Aging water infrastructure systems, climate change, and the general rising cost of urban living mean that access to clean and affordable water is becoming a greater challenge. Cities and water utilities are increasingly faced with a major financial dilemma: increase rates to update infrastructure and price out ratepayers, or keep rates static at the expense of aging and failing infrastructure. At the fulcrum of this choice sits those most vulnerable to increases in rates: low-to-moderate income households, which are disproportionately made up of women and/or people of color.

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