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Last month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its Final Impact and Evaluation Report on the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, commonly known as LIHWAP. In 2021, Congress appropriated $1.1 billion (with then-president Trump’s signature) for this first-ever program to help people maintain access to water when they can’t afford their water bills.
It’s the “final” LIHWAP report because Congress only provided temporary funding for the program, which ran out at the end of 2023. Yet, the report—coupled with the Water Affordability Needs Assessment that EPA released in December—shows unequivocally why we need a permanent low-income water assistance program.
Water affordability solutions lie at the federal, state, and local levels, all working together. But a federal program is a critical piece of the puzzle. As I’ve noted, national polls show widespread support for federally-funded low-income water assistance and several bills were introduced last year to create one.
In this blog, I’ll touch on the quantitative data in the recent HHS and EPA reports. But I’ll focus especially on human stories that show the powerful difference LIHWAP made to people’s lives, health, and well-being across the country.
These are stories of people in both “red” states and “blue” states, in communities large and small. People facing the loss of access to water, housing, and the ability to feed their family because they couldn’t afford the water bill. People for whom LIHWAP provided a lifeline when they had nowhere else to turn.
But first, the data. (Or just jump to the stories below.)
HHS’s LIHWAP evaluation report documents the program’s achievements. LIHWAP supported over 1.5 million households, preventing nearly 1 million disconnections of water service, restoring water services over 100,000 times, and reducing over 1.1 million water bills. A majority (59%) of these households had incomes at or below 75% of the federal poverty level, and a majority (56%) included children under age five, seniors, and/or people with disabilities.
LIHWAP operated in 49 states (except North Dakota, which declined to participate), the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and 97 Native American tribes and tribal organizations. The LIHWAP Data Dashboard shows a state-by-state breakdown of these data, along with each state’s funding level. State-specific fact sheets can also be found here.
The LIHWAP evaluation report shows that nearly 17,000 water and wastewater utilities partnered with the program. These weren’t just large systems serving metro areas; nearly half of them were “small” or “very small” systems that typically serve rural communities. An accompanying interactive map shows most of the participating water utilities, along with the population, median income, poverty rate, and other health and welfare measures of the communities they serve. A list of the participating utilities included in the map is here.
But LIHWAP reached only a fraction of eligible households because the funding was so limited. EPA’s Water Affordability Needs Assessment estimates that 12 to 18 million low-income households (9.2% to 14.6% of all U.S. households) face unaffordable water bills. The report estimates that it would take $5.1 billion to $8.8 billion per year to close the affordability gap.
EPA’s report explains that a permanent federal water assistance program would help support everyone’s access to safe water, not only those who would receive direct assistance with their water bills. As EPA stated, upgrading water and wastewater systems across the country to provide safe water and clean waterways “requires addressing how water utilities are funded, how rates are set, and how assistance programs are established to support all rate payers…A national water assistance program could serve as a critical tool for alleviating some of the financial stress faced by households and utilities around the country.”
We all have a stake in safe drinking water. So, we all have a stake in solving water affordability.
Now, the human stories.
The LIHWAP final report includes stories shared by state and tribal program managers—the civil servants who did the on-the-ground work of getting help to people who needed it. But the most personal and eye-opening stories are in states’ and tribes’ quarterly reports to HHS.
So, who did LIHWAP help? In the rest of this blog, I’ve gathered a sample of their stories.*
These stories tell of innumerable challenges people faced that made it impossible to afford their water bills, and of the severe consequences of having their water disconnected.
Some of the people who LIHWAP helped were experiencing cancer, a hospitalized child, huge medical bills, or the death of a loved one—and sometimes several of these things at the same time. One was in the hospital when their water was disconnected. Many were depressed because their water was disconnected.
Many were elders and people with disability on a fixed income. One family told of needing water to prepare infant formula.
Some were multigenerational households, which included great-grandparents, grandparents, single parents, young children. In one case, a great-grandmother had just received temporary custody of three young great-grandchildren and was threatened with water shutoff.
For many, the loss of water also threatened a loss of housing. Because they couldn’t afford their water bills, they were often facing eviction, foreclosure, or condemnation of their home for lack of access to running water.
One retired civil servant nearly lost access to water not only for drinking, cooking, and bathing, but for watering a backyard garden that she used to help feed her neighbors.
Many told of having “nowhere else to turn” for help until they discovered LIHWAP. And many expressed heartfelt thanks to the dedicated staff of state agencies and non-profit organizations that helped them through the application process. Some thanked God. One even praised Congress specifically, saying “things like this are what the nation needs to know about…you’re doing a good job. From the bottom of my heart, I just wanted to say thank you.”
LIHWAP was truly a lifeline to millions. You can read many of their stories below, identified by the state or tribe that submitted them.**
Let these stories inspire you with what compassionate government agencies and civil servants can do, when Congress and the President empower them to do it.
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Ohio shared the story of an 80 year-old woman who had just been awarded temporary custody of three young great grandchildren but was on the verge of having her water disconnected. Another person’s water was disconnected while they were in the hospital. LIHWAP allowed the great grandmother and young kids to avoid shutoff and restored water for the person who had been hospitalized.
Tennessee helped keep a family of five—including a single mother, her disabled father, and her three small children—from losing both their water and their home. A new landlord insisted that the family put the water bill in their own name, but they couldn’t afford to pay a $150 deposit with the utility. LIHWAP covered the deposit and provided a credit to help make future bills more affordable.
Nebraska shared the story of a family where the father was unable to work due to disability and the child was hospitalized for a month; with mounting medical bills, they fell behind on their water bill and LIHWAP was able to help.
Iowa shared gratitude directly from a family experiencing unemployment and health problems: “Thank you very much and have a blessed day! You have no idea how much this means to my family to know we will have access to water. With me losing my job and my husband’s health issues, I didn’t know how we were going to manage this alone!” Iowa also reported on a man whose water had been shutoff for two weeks and whose home was going to be condemned, all over an unpaid water bill. LIHWAP got his water restored and saved his home. And one of the local agencies that helped implement the program shared that it had “a huge impact to customers in our rural area.”
Florida also shared thanks directly from a resident who received assistance: “Things like this are what the nation needs to know about, and I wish I could send a letter to Congress or officials to let them know you’re doing a good job. From the bottom of my heart, I just wanted to say thank you. It’s greatly appreciated. Have a blessed day and week.”
In Maine, a LIHWAP staffer shared that they “have made calls to more than a few applicants to let them know that benefits would be paid to their utility district which would prevent their homes from going to foreclosure. Some people I have spoken to have broken down in tears upon hearing this news….[They] said they had no possible way of making the payments on their own.”
In Louisiana, a grateful state official hoped for the program’s continuation: “Many families have had to choose between paying the water bill and putting food on the table. LIHWAP has given Louisiana citizens an opportunity to eliminate some of the anxiety that comes with how to pay the bills each month and more opportunity to focus on the other needs of their family. We hope to see this program continue in the future as what could only be considered a life-saving health and safety measure for Louisiana households in need.”
New Hampshire told of a LIHWAP recipient whose town had turned her away when she sought help. She “was having a hard time making ends meet….She had received a shut off notice and did not know what else to do at this point. She spoke with her town and no one would help her….We were able to help [her] before her water was shut off. She was extremely grateful.”
Delaware provided LIHWAP assistance to a woman facing a water shutoff after her mother had recently died. State program staff recalled that, when she came in, she “cried at several points….She was speechless at first when I told her she qualified. She then cried as she expressed her appreciation for the assistance LIHWAP was able to provide to her. She spent years in public service and grows a garden to help feed her neighbors and keep those she loves healthy. The thought of not having water and not being able to provide for herself and others in her community was heart breaking. Without water, her plants would die and her loved ones would go hungry. Thanks to the LIHWAP program, she was able to keep her water on and her friends and family fed with her fresh veggies.”
Rhode Island shared that they prevented water shutoffs several times for a family “whose hardships were overwhelming with nowhere else to turn,” allowing them to stay in their home.
In an unidentified state, someone who learned they’d be receiving help with their water bill said: “I don’t know who did it, but it’s got to be God that did it for me. He knows I can’t afford it and only get assistance once a month. Thank you very much!”
Many stories also came from Tribal Nations that received grants to provide LIHWAP assistance to their members:
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation told of a woman they helped who had recently lost her husband. She wasn’t old enough for social security and her water was disconnected while she was waiting to receive survivor benefits. Another woman and her husband had their water disconnected after he was diagnosed with cancer and the couple was “struggling with medical bills and gas to and from [doctor] appointments.”
The Kenaitze Indian Tribe shared feedback directly from a “household with 2 persons with a disability and elders” who received LIHWAP assistance: “The Little Water Company dropped off 20 gallons to my home with no delivery fee – helping me with clean water to drink, I have no access to drinking water.”
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw shared that two families who received LIHWAP assistance “have infants in their homes and were very happy to have the assistance for help paying their water bills so they are able to prepare formula for their infants.”
The Osage Tribe of Oklahoma shared that LIHWAP helped restore water service for “an elderly couple living on a fixed income and struggl[ing] to pay the water bill,” after they had already been disconnected twice.
The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes described that an “elder had a huge water bill and was not able to get his services restored had went without for a while. [His] house had become very dirty and that broke into medical issues…. LIHWAP [was] able to help get his water restored….[He] said he felt ‘Blessed’ because he fell in such a black hole and couldn’t get out. We see [him] from time to time and he is smiling and finally ‘happy’ again.” Tribal staff, reflecting on the program, stated that “Clean water…not only plays a vital role in our health and sanitizing our homes but it also plays a huge role in our mental health as well. I’ve seen clients go through a depression when they had no running water. Helpless because there was no help until LIHWAP came. LIHWAP helped many homes and families.”
NOTES:
* A few of the stories come from the LIHWAP Final Implementation and Evaluation Report (p. 26). Most are from the narrative “accomplishments” reported in states’ and tribes’ LIHWAP quarterly reports. HHS extracted responses from those reports into a set of spreadsheets that can be downloaded at the bottom of this page in the LIHWAP Data Dashboard. Additionally, one story (from an unidentified state) is from a conference presentation by a firm that helped some states administer the LIHWAP program.
** A couple of years ago, in another blog, I also shared stories of people who contacted me during the COVID-19 pandemic, before LIHWAP, desperate for ideas on where to get help keeping the water on for their families.
