2 – Water – Manny Teodoro

Water & Sewer Affordability in the United States 🎓

AWWA Water ScienceManuel P. TeodoroThe ability of low-income families to pay for basic water and sewer services is a subject of increasing concern. Large-scale assessments of affordability across large numbers of American utilities are

Water and Sewer Affordability in the United States, 2019 🎓

AWWA Water ScienceManuel P. Teodoro and Robin Rose SaywitzThis study uses contemporary metrics and data from an original, representative sample of water and sewer utilities in the United States to calculate the affordability of

PFASt takes 💻

Initial thoughts on EPA’s proposed PFAS standardsThis is a perfluorooctanesulfonic acid molecule. It's kind of cute! Almost.As regular readers of this blog are likely aware, this week EPA announced proposed Maximum Contaminant Limits (MCLs)

Profits of Distrust at Seminary Co-op Bookstore 🎦

A conversation with Sabina Shaikh, University of ChicagoThe burgeoning bottled water industry presents a paradox: Why do people choose expensive, environmentally destructive bottled water, rather than cheaper, sustainable, and more rigorously regulated tap water?

Assistance program administration & distributional impacts 💻

A thought experiment and back-of-envelope illustrationWater/sewer utility customer assistance programs (CAPs) don’t run themselves. When utilities use rate revenue to pay for CAPs, administrative costs can quickly eat into benefits that such programs can

First, do no harm 💻

Administratively costly assistance programs can hurt more than they helpperpetually stylish. timelessly true.Water and sewer affordability is a complicated challenge that demands a multifaceted solution; to meet that challenge, I’ve developed five pillars of

Towels, not tuxedos 💻

How much assistance should each customer get?When things get hot, coverage matters more than fitCustomer assistance programs (CAPs) form the fourth pillar of affordability strategy. Previous posts described the first three pillars of affordability—quality,

Bill Assistance on Walden Pond 💻

The fourth pillar of affordability is income-qualified assistancesimplify, simplify, simplify...in which I lay out a framework for water utilities that want to set up customer assistance programs.This is the latest in a series of

Broken politics, broken pipes 💻

Sustainable solutions for Jackson, MississippiNot a sustainable solution. (Photo credit: Mississippitoday.org)National attention is back on drinking water utilities, and once again for all the wrong reasons. As readers of this blog surely know by now,

The Profits of Distrust 📖

Cambridge University Press, 2022The choices people make about drinking water reveal deeper lessons about trust in government and civic life.The burgeoning bottled water industry presents a paradox: Why do people choose expensive, environmentally destructive

Of Bills and Balance Sheets 💻

The third pillar of affordability is Rate Design“Affordable” means different things in different contextsThis post is the third in a series outlining five pillars of affordability strategy for water and sewer utilities. None of

The Donut Budget 💻

The second pillar of affordability is EfficiencyOne of these matters more than the otherThis post is the second in a series outlining five pillars of affordability strategy for water and sewer utilities. Together, these pillars

Defensive Spending 💻

The first pillar of affordability is QualityGotta count the bottles and the billsSo long as water and sewer services operate on a fee-for-service basis, ensuring that these critical services are affordable will remain a

Frame Game 2: Back to the Data 💻

Gendered and partisan responses to proposed rate increases[An absurdly busy couple of months has kept me away from the blogosphere—sorry. Will try to get back into a regular groove now]Winning public support for investments

Issue framing and public willingness to pay water & sewer rate increases 🎓

AWWA Water Science, March 2022This study uses an embedded survey experiment to evaluate the effects of issue framing on willingness to pay water and sewer rate increases. Government-owned utilities require public support for financial

And Water for All 🎦

Ramiro Berardo, Director...And Water For All is an educational documentary about water affordability in Ohio. The film aims to amplify the voices of those who work toward providing clean, affordable water for all. Even

The Frame Game 💻

The science of talking about water rate increasesIt’s not about the water tower—it’s about what’s insideStrictly from a value standpoint, it’s hard to imagine anything that provides more bang for the buck than well-built

The Revolution Will Not be Legislated 💻

Notes on the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Part IIIWater professionals of America, unite!Late last year Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, authorizing $63.3 billion

Reading the Tea Leaves 💻

Notes on the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Part II*The Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act is 1,039 pages long. That’s a lot of tea.The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, better known as the Bipartisan

Half a Cadillac 💻

Notes on the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Part INo need for air conditioningIn November President Biden signed the long-awaited $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) better known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

The Sweet Spot 💻

How much consolidation is enough?You know it when you hit the sweet spot.There’s a growing consensus that there are way too many water utilities in the United States.America’s 50,000 community water systems are operated

SNAP H2O 💻

Better federal water bill assistance with this one weird trickKeys to affordable water bills?When Congress created a new $638 million federal Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) last December, it was part of

(Un)taxing the Tap 💻

How to stop taxing waterIt’s hard to know exactly how much money Americans are paying in taxes at the tap, but it’s a lot. Last time I described the variety of ways that governments

Environmental Federalism in Indian Country 🎓

Sovereignty, primacy & environmental protectionPolicy Studies Journal, May 2020Mellie Haider, Manuel P. TeodoroThe landmark American environmental laws of the 1970s originally made no mention of American Indian tribal lands, and subsequent research on environmental

Stop Taxing Tap Water 💻

Collecting tax revenue through water bills hurts affordability & turns utilities into coercive agents of governmentCan you find the tax?They may not realize it, but tens of millions of Americans pay taxes on the

Game Changer 💻

California utility regulators lead the way with comprehensive affordability assessmentWonderboy was the star of the movie, but Savoy Special won the gameBetween a global pandemic and a presidential election, you might have missed it, but

Panopticon 💻

What happens when governments ask the public to report water waste?Ever feel like you're being watched?Rainfall has been low, the mountain snowpack is thin, and Californians are bracing for another year of scarcity. But

Public water waste reporting 🎓

Contextual correlates and conservation outcomesWater Resources Research Y. Zhang, M.P. Teodoro & D. SwitzerKey PointsParticipatory surveillance is a way for governments to increase water waste monitoring capacity and achieve conservation goalsSocial and institutional aspects

Batting .400 💻

On the limits of means-tested assistance programs for water & sewerRed Sox legend Ted Williams was the last player to bat over .400... in 1941**Warning: sports metaphor ahead**Like hitting a baseball, running a means-tested

Lone Star Blues 💻

When utility regulation fails, democracy failsPhoto: Texas TribuneThe utility failures in the Lone Star State last week cascaded into a disaster when extreme weather hit an isolated electrical grid.* But more than a natural

Ready, Fire, Aim 💻

Managing the $638 million low-income water & sewer assistance in the federal COVID relief packageNow what?As frequent readers of this page likely know, the COVID relief bill that Congress passed in December included $638

Confluence 💻

Confluence. [kän-flü-ən(t)s]. n. A coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point.Water is a big deal in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania is a swing state. Am I being to subtle?More evidence that, in a

Art of the Possible 💻

Why water should be the Biden Administration’s top environmental priorityEvidently the president-elect is confident managing stormwater.The Biden administration’s environmental policy priorities are likely to be quite different from the Trump administration’s, and the impending

Echoes of Vizzini 💻

No, EPA did not propose affordability guidelines for municipal utilitiesAffordability!Late last week the EPA published in the Federal Register some proposed new guidelines for evaluating sewer utilities’ financial strength. In press releases and public

Misoverestimickated 💻

About that water affordability study in The Guardian...Water is a ZILLION PERCENT unaffordable! Also, aliens.The Guardian recently published a big story on water utility affordability in the United States. The headline was shocking: “Millions of