Water Affordability Needs Assessment
EPA’s 2024 Water Affordability Needs Assessment Report provides an estimate of the water affordability burden felt among households and utilities across the nation. The Report summarizes decades of work by utilities, academics, and associations that have been at the forefront of this research. It presents EPA’s analysis of the prevalence of water affordability challenges to both communities and utilities across the country and provides approaches to address water affordability concerns.
The preliminary analysis presented in the Report indicates between 12.1 million and 19.2 million households throughout the U.S. lack affordable access to water services. The estimated national cost of unaffordable water service bills ranges from $5.1 billion to $8.8 billion per year.
This Report provides options to reduce unaffordable access to water services which fall into three broad categories:
- Establishing a Federal Water Assistance Program
- Increasing Education, Outreach and Knowledge Around Solutions to Address Affordability
- Increasing Ways to Reduce Water Infrastructure Capital and Operating Costs.
In producing this Report, EPA gathered input from a wide range of stakeholders, including utilities, associations, academia, nonprofits, community-based organizations, advocacy groups, and the public.