Safe, Affordable Drinking Water is a Basic Human Need

Imagine waking up in the morning and heading to the faucet to start your day, only to be left with a slow drip. No water to wash your face, or cook breakfast, or get your kids ready for school. You’re racing against the clock to get to school drop off and to work on time, and your only option is to run over to your neighbor’s house hoping they can help you out.

This isn’t a hypothetical for many Michiganders, but an increasingly more frequent reality. It’s ironic that in Michigan, a state famously surrounded by fresh water, hundreds of thousands of people struggle to afford access to safe, affordable drinking water. Across the state — and country — the cost of rent, groceries, and utilities is becoming increasingly expensive, in rural, suburban and urban areas. In honor of Human Rights Day on December 10, we’re highlighting the importance of seeing food, water, and shelter as what they are: basic needs for survival.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory that models how fundamental human necessities have to be met before people can pursue growth and opportunity. Essentially, it reinforces that people need food to be fueled, water to be hydrated and cleaned, and a roof over our heads to be sheltered. These are not optional luxuries, but basic necessities that function as building blocks for human life and dignity.

Folks shouldn’t be forced to choose between paying their heat and water bills. Families shouldn’t have to pick between rationing groceries or medication. Parents shouldn’t have to debate between childcare and rent. The good news is that there are solutions to these problems…

Michigan could lead the way in creating a first-in-the-nation statewide water affordability program by passing legislation in the State Senate. That’s why, together with Republican Senator John Damoose, Democratic Senator Rosemary Bayer and several other colleagues, I reintroduced legislation earlier this year that would ensure access to safe, affordable drinking water. The bipartisan package includes Senate Bill 248, Senate Bill 249, Senate Bill 250, Senate Bill 251, and Senate Bill 252.

One key to this bill package is that it prioritizes affordability over assistance. Assistance is a short term, quick fix. This is putting a bandaid on a leaky pipe instead of fixing it. What Michiganders need is long term sustainable water affordability and protections from shutoffs for vulnerable community members, so working parents going paycheck to paycheck and seniors on a fixed income can always afford their utilities. Every corner of this state — from villages in the Upper Peninsula, to suburbs in Macomb County, to cities in west and southeast Michigan — has people who are having trouble paying their water bills.

Every human being needs access to water, and water coming out of your tap should not depend on how much money you have.

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State Senator Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit)