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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 ho...

Water crisis looms as California households struggle to pay bills By Kurtis Alexander Unpaid water bills are piling up across California as the pandemic continues to rage, leaving water agencies out hundreds of millions of dollars and nearly 1 in 8 families with rising debt — and worse, a possible water shut-off. In the Bay Area alone, tens of thousands of households have missed a water payment recently. San Francisco reported more than three times as many delinquent water customers at the end of last year compared with March, shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began. Th...

A statewide survey indicates that low-income households and communities of color are most affected by overdue water bills that have climbed during the pandemic, further hurting those who were already in financial distress. Belan Ruia makes every drop of water count as she washes dishes in April 2015 in her East Porterville, California, home. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue Household water-bill debt in California has soared in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, worsening a water affordability crisis that has hit the state’s low-income residents and c...