Cleveland Leaders Release Water Equity Roadmap

Report Describes Challenges Facing Cleveland Communities and Promising Strategies for Equitable Water Management

Today, the US Water Alliance and innovative Cleveland leaders representing area utilities, nonprofits, and philanthropy, released An Equitable Water Future: Cleveland. This is the first-ever report on the connections between water management and equity in Cleveland. The report is available online here.

An Equitable Water Future: Cleveland was collaboratively developed by the Cleveland Water Equity Taskforce, including leaders from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District; Cleveland Water; the City of Cleveland; Burten, Bell, Carr Development Corporation; CHN Housing Network; The Cleveland Foundation; Cleveland Neighborhood Progress; Cleveland Water Alliance; Cray Consulting Group; Drink Local. Drink Tap; Emerald Cities Cleveland; Environmental Health Watch; The George Gund Foundation; Slavic Village Development Corporation; and Sustainable Cleveland 2019.

Cleveland faces a range of challenges related to water, from aging infrastructure and affordability to flooding concerns. Making water management more equitable means ensuring that all people have access to safe, affordable water services, and that all benefit equitably from continued investments in infrastructure. Among the report's recommendations are expanding utility cost-savings and conservation programs, as well as forging stronger collaboration between utilities and communities, with the goal of making sure that all citizens can understand and engage in decision processes about water infrastructure.

"We are proud to partner on the development of the water equity roadmap. Like many other cities across the United States, our challenges need to be met with thoughtful, comprehensive solutions. Collaboration was key to this effort, and I'm grateful to this diverse team for giving their time generously to define ways to advance water equity. Driving these solutions forward calls for continued collaboration among the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, and the Sewer District looks forward to on-going partnerships," said Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, CEO of Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

Added Robert Davis, City of Cleveland Department of Public Utilities Director, "The US Water Alliance's Water Equity Taskforce is a unique and innovative industry initiative that we're proud to be a part of. Equity has been a focus for Cleveland Water for some time. This roadmap, which is the result of a two-year collaboration, is an important step in developing water management solutions that will directly help Cleveland residents."

"While the challenges that Cleveland's communities face are significant, there are so many opportunities to drive change. Working towards greater social equity has widespread benefits beyond water systems-it also helps to grow local economies. I applaud the Cleveland Water Equity Taskforce for their leadership in working to make Cleveland a more prosperous and equitable city," said Radhika Fox, CEO of the US Water Alliance.

An Equitable Water Future: Cleveland discusses critical topics in water equity, including public engagement, affordability, workforce development, and climate resiliency. For each of these topics, the report examines critical challenges, describes practices that are currently underway, and highlights priority actions that stakeholders in Cleveland can take to advance equitable water management.

This report is part of the Water Equity Taskforce, a network of cities convened by the US Water Alliance that work together to develop more equitable water policies and practices. The Taskforce includes cross-sector teams in the cities of Atlanta, Buffalo, Camden, Cleveland, Louisville, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh.

For more information on the Water Equity Taskforce project, visit http://uswateralliance.org/initiatives/water-equity/taskforce.