First Flint, then Jackson. Is America ready to fix its water supply?
Felicia Brisco stands outside the hair salon she owns and manages in Jackson, Mississippi, where the city's aging water infrastructure has encouraged a rift between residents and their leaders. After an unprecedented winter storm earlier this year, she lost water temporarily.
Xander Peters
Jackson, Miss.
When an unusually severe freeze struck the Gulf Coast region in February, blanketing everything from Central Texas to Alabama in a coat of ice, the city of Jackson caught national attention, at least briefly.听
Both water treatment plants in Mississippi鈥檚 capital city were hobbled by the frigid temperatures. Water pressure sagged, compromising drinkability. Jackson鈥檚听听were placed under alert to听boil anything that came from their faucets before drinking it.
The crisis dragged into days, then weeks. It was only on March 17 鈥� a month after it began 鈥� that the boil advisory lifted for most residents in this majority-Black city.听
Why We Wrote This
Yes, a winter storm this February was unusually severe for Mississippi. But the failure of the water system in the state鈥檚 capital city revealed larger challenges 鈥� with what you could call the basic plumbing of society. First in a series on water and justice.
But if the situation shocked many, Felicia Brisco wasn鈥檛 surprised. Owner of a hair salon in the city, she has seen years of challenges 鈥� from water main breaks during a 2018 winter storm to boil-water advisories affecting pockets of the city as recently as June. The effects have trickled down from Ms. Brisco鈥檚 kitchen to her shampoo-reliant work.
鈥淲e have had to turn clients away for weeks at a time due to issues with the water here in Jackson,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t can be very discouraging for businesses that need water to operate.鈥澨�
Jackson鈥檚 situation is extreme but far from unique. Across the country, American water systems are crumbling. Decades of disinvestment and neglect, experts say, have left this infrastructure in some cases violating federal standards 鈥� or vulnerable to shocks such as February鈥檚 freeze. And while crises such as the 2014 lead contamination in Flint, Michigan, bring periodic attention to the problem, long-standing gaps in safety, access, and maintenance are straining a basic social contract in one of the world鈥檚 richest nations: namely, that when one turns on the faucet, clean water comes out.听
鈥淣obody figured out how to maintain the system in the long run. ... That鈥檚 what you鈥檙e seeing not only in Jackson, but in many cities across the country,鈥� says Mukesh Kumar, an urban planning expert at Jackson State University. 鈥淲hen water systems start breaking down, that鈥檚 when you start losing the most important part 鈥撎齮rust.鈥澨�
But that, advocates say, is just what has been happening. While the disrepair is far from universal, it鈥檚 visible in communities big and small, rural and urban, coastal and landlocked. Problems with lead or other contamination are significant in major cities from Chicago and Cleveland to Baltimore and Newark in New Jersey.
It is no coincidence, advocates say, that those locations, like Jackson, are home to majority-Black and other nonwhite populations. Drinking water systems that constantly violated federal safety standards were 40% more likely to occur in places with higher percentages of residents of color, according to a 2019 report from the Natural Resources Defense Council.听听
Meanwhile, the federal government has reduced its support dramatically 鈥� from providing 63% of all U.S. water infrastructure investment in 1977 to 9% in 2017. Experts say that shift, tracked by The Value of Water advocacy group, disproportionately affected lower-income communities that could not make up the difference.听听听
A NAACP report from 2019 describes how the intersecting forces of housing segregation, poverty, and rising cost of water have left Black communities across the country with reduced access to clean drinking water. In this sense, the emergency is one not only of infrastructure but also of justice.
Yet in the face of all this, something hopeful is taking place 鈥� and a trend that鈥檚 being explored in this and other Monitor articles in a series on water and justice.
For years, advocates say, water infrastructure was an 鈥渙ut of sight, out of mind鈥� problem, a looming crisis literally hidden underground. Now, from small towns and urban neighborhoods to the corridors of Capitol Hill, a growing group of neighbors, activists, local officials, and lawmakers are talking about water access, and are joining together to come up with solutions. Support in the U.S. Senate and House for $35 billion or more in spending on water infrastructure signals rising bipartisan national attention to the issue.
鈥淧eople are waking up to this fundamental truth that in a country with as many financial and technological resources as we have ...听 it should be a basic human right that everyone has access to clean, safe drinking water,鈥� says Maureo Fern谩ndez y Mora, the associate state director for Massachusetts for the advocacy group Clean Water Action. 鈥淭hat is not currently something that has been delivered upon for a number of communities across the United States, and that really does need to change.鈥�
That鈥檚 what people such as Ms. Brisco are increasingly demanding in Jackson.
鈥淲e know it鈥檚 not going to happen overnight, because the failure didn鈥檛 happen overnight,鈥� Ms. Brisco says of how she and other residents are calling for changes. But 鈥渃lean water is a necessity that all citizens should have access to.鈥�
鈥淲ithout water or sewer, you don鈥檛 have a city鈥�
The path toward answers involves grasping how the problems emerged in the first place. Funding shortfalls, not just federal but local, have played a key role. And behind that lies a story of demographic change. In 1960, Jackson鈥檚 population of 148,000 was roughly 64% white and 36% Black.听But as in other metro areas nationwide,听school integration led to white flight, and in later decades other factors including rising crime rates fueled a further exodus to the suburbs among Jackson鈥檚 white and Black middle class alike.听听
With them, too, went a large portion of a tax base that Mississippi鈥檚 largest city has historically depended upon. Today, roughly 1 in 4 of Jackson鈥檚 more than 166,000 residents earn below the federal poverty line. About 16% of the city鈥檚 population today is white; 82%, Black.听
Mississippi state Rep. De鈥橩either Stamps says the infrastructure inequalities are drawn along income lines, even as the effects fall disproportionately on Black residents.
鈥淛ackson鈥檚 been led by Black leadership for 30 years. This is a class issue more so than a race issue. This is a this-side-of-town versus that-side-of-town sort of issue,鈥� says Representative Stamps, a former Jackson city councilman. 鈥淲est and south Jackson have been disinvested when it comes to infrastructure for a long time.鈥澨�
In March, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, a Democrat, conservatively estimated that the city鈥檚 overall infrastructure upgrades could require up to $2 billion in funding 鈥撎齛 massive tally for a city with an annual budget of about $300 million 鈥撎齱ith at least half of the upgrades destined for investment in the sewer system alone.听
More than many cities, Jackson is a sprawling metro area with more than 1,500 miles of water mains running underneath its streets. It was also designed with a larger modern population in mind, yet its population has declined by about 20% since peaking at 200,000 in 1980, according to U.S. census data.听
鈥淎t the heart of the problem is that lack of planning for operations and maintenance in the 1970s,鈥� an era when cities were reaping federal grants from the 1972 Clean Water Act, says Dr. Kumar at Jackson State. 鈥淭he way I see it right now is that without federal assistance, this is going to be a tall order. I don鈥檛 see how many American cities actually come out of this water crisis on top.鈥澨�
Yet the imperative is clear. From the aqueducts of Rome to the canal and reservoir systems of Cambodia鈥檚 ancient Khmer civilization, public water systems have long been a foundation for societies to flourish.
鈥淐ommunity water systems cannot be allowed to collapse,鈥� Dr. Kumar says. 鈥淓ither you have to replace it, or otherwise, without water or sewer, you don鈥檛 have a city.鈥�
Years of work ahead听
Charles Williams, Jackson鈥檚 public works director, feels that pressure directly.听
鈥淢y biggest fear during all this was that somebody was going to drive up to my office and basically say, 鈥楢ll right, you鈥檙e out, pack your bag 鈥撎齱e鈥檙e going to take you to the outskirts of Jackson and leave you there,鈥欌�� Dr. Williams says of his concern for eroding trust between community managers like himself and Jackson residents. 鈥淲e understand the frustration.鈥�
Dr. Williams speaks candidly of daunting work to come.听
In all likelihood, Jackson is facing a 10- to 20-year project that will call for the replacement of old pipes and upgrading treatment plants. The city initially made a request to the state for $47 million for water and sewer upgrades. Mississippi lawmakers allocated $3 million, with the hope that federal dollars from President Joe Biden鈥檚 American Rescue Plan 鈥撎齧ore than $46 million of which is reserved for the city 鈥撎齱ill help in covering the difference.听
In March, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, introduced a bill that would double the direct allocation to Jackson by authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to spend $47 million for 鈥渆nvironmental infrastructure projects.鈥澨�
鈥淭he overall recovery of Jackson is going to take time,鈥� Dr. Williams says. 鈥淭his will go beyond my tenure here at the city, and the mayor鈥檚.鈥�
Meanwhile, the concept of maintaining patience with the city has begun to wear on some of its longtime residents, even as they push for action on water among other local issues.听
Civil rights movement activist Euvester Simpson and her husband, Les Range, the former executive director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, understand the constraints facing current city leaders.
鈥淚 think the neglect occurred before the current leadership came into place,鈥� Mr. Range says. 鈥淲est Jackson, south Jackson, they experienced neglect. And then, as happens all over the place when African Americans take control, they inherit a mess. It鈥檚 hard to put resources together to fix it.鈥澨�
Yet they find themselves questioning whether current city leaders are working effectively together 鈥� and earning public trust.
鈥淚鈥檓 very much concerned about the direction that we鈥檙e going in, if we鈥檙e going to survive without the city just absolutely crumbling and falling apart,鈥� Ms. Simpson says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what we鈥檙e going to do, but I know that I believe we need some new leadership.鈥澨�
She adds, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to give up on Jackson 鈥撎齳et.鈥�
Stephanie Hanes reported for this article from Northampton, Massachusetts.
Editor's note: The comment by Maureo Fern谩ndez y Mora, associate state director for Massachusetts for the advocacy group Clean Water Action,听has been clarified.