I m not interested.
Then the pandemic hit. Bell-Holt’s household swelled from five to 12, as she took in laid-off children, several friends and her toddler grandson. Monthly utilities swelled to over $2,000.
That meant trade-offs. She stayed current on the $2,700 rent. As before, she sent regular but partial utility payments: $500 here, $1,000 there. She used December stimulus payments to shrink the debt by $2,000.
Bell-Holt lives in the epicenter of California’s water debt crisis. While average debt is $500, at least 155,000 households mostly in Los Angeles owe over $1,000.
In her ZIP code, nearly half of households have water debt. Of those, one fifth owe more than $1,000.
Transcript
This is Eileen Wray-McCann for Circle of Blue. And this is What’s Up with Water, your “need-to-know news” of the world’s water, made possible by support from people like you.
In the United States, environmental, health, and civic groups have sued the federal government, claiming that revised rules for lead in drinking water are not strong enough to protect health. In late December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the rule revisions. According to MLive, the groups filing the lawsuits oppose many of the new drinking water rules, but they are especially concerned about the timelines for eliminating lead pipes. They argue that utilities are allowed too many years to remove a major source of lead in drinking water. One lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice and includes the NAACP and United Parents Against Lead. A second lawsuit was filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
As Californians Rack Up $1 Billion in Water Debt, Advocates Fear Relief Could Come Too Late Listen
Nicolas COMTE / Unsplash
Californians have accumulated $1 billion in unpaid water bills since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and about 1.6 million California households are behind on their water bills, according to a new survey from the State Water Resources Control Board.
A statewide water shutoff moratorium has kept water running since April even for those unable to pay their utility bills. The mounting debt is taking a toll on households and water systems alike, as COVID-19 case counts continue to rise in many parts of California.