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WASH Access Data Collection Act of 2024 & What It Means for the U.S. Water Crisis

by Chris Freimund, US Program Manager

For many people in the United States, it can be easy to take access to water or wastewater services for granted. You turn on the tap, and there it flows. While this is a reality for many U.S. citizens, there are millions of others throughout the country who have historically lacked access and continue to lack access to safe water and plumbing in their homes. Still others are losing access due to aging infrastructure, the impacts of climate change, water quality concerns, and other drivers (read our interview with a young artist from Jackson, Mississippi to understand more).

The full scale and depth of the problem is still unclear, and closing this gap is difficult because the U.S. lacks a national-level entity that collects and distributes data focused on access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. It is impossible for us as a sector to effectively manage what is not measured.

Since the 1990s, the Census Bureau has removed questions around access to household services and plumbing from the American Community Survey, cutting the last remaining question about household toilets in 2016.

As a result, there is a limited understanding of who, exactly, is experiencing the access gap. Without the data to demonstrate infrastructure and capacity needs, communities will continue to be unable to advocate for the resources they desperately require to solve the pressing water and sanitation issues that they face.

As a founding member of the Vessel Collective—a group of organizations working to strengthen the U.S. WASH sector—we pushed and advocated for the WASH Access Data Collection Act of 2024 on Capitol Hill during our recent DC convening in May. Access to water and sanitation services is a fundamental human right no matter where you live in the world. It is an issue that affects our health, lives, livelihoods, and the well-being of our friends, families, and communities.

Chief Impact Officer Sarah Bramley (far right), moderates a panel with Sherry Bradley, Consortium for Alabama Rural Water and Wastewater Management & Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program (BBUWP); Sharon Groves, Yess! Of Charles County; Kyle Jones, Community Water Center; Crystal Tulley-Cordova, Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources – Navajo Nation

Water For People and the Vessel Collective believe that passing this act is an important first step towards improving the collection and distribution of data on water and sanitation access in the U.S. It would also support coordination between the responsible federal agencies to help close the access gap. The product of this act would be beneficial for the government, non-government organizations (NGOs), foundations, and other actors in the WASH sector. It would help us understand the access gap more thoroughly, which in turn would allow the sector to create targeted and contextual support and solutions for those communities experiencing the impacts of lacking access.

In many other countries where Water For People works, we have witnessed the impact that providing decision-makers with contextualized data can have on implementing solutions tailored to community needs. We can apply this same approach and methodology here in the U.S.  It’s a crucial first step to truly address the needs of the more than 2 million people across the U.S. who lack access to running water and basic plumbing.


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