ASU's Kyl Center experts lay out 10 tenets of water equity

As everyone has focused on longer and more frequent hand-washing during the pandemic, the availability of safe, clean water has never been more important.

That necessity, coupled with the increasing awareness of social justice issues, has highlighted the topic of water equity, which was addressed in a new report by experts at Arizona State University.

“Ten Tenets of Water Equity: Considerations for Community Water Systems,” which was released recently by the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU, lays out the tough balance between the need for clean water and the price of providing it.

“We hear people calling for water to be free and a human right. One of the strengths of this report is that it highlights how difficult it is to achieve that,” said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy, which is part of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy.

The report states: “Is there a human right to water? Sure. Is there a human right to have safe, clean water pumped through pipelines into your home to be available on tap 24/7/365 at perfect quality and pressure parameters free of charge? Well, that gets tricky.”