The Impact of US Ambivalence on the Human Right to Water

A few weeks ago, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly’s resolution on World Toilet Day, the United States took the opportunity to make a formal statement stressing its ambivalence concerning the human right to water.  The statement emphasizes that since the US is not a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the US isn’t bound by any right to water derived from its provisions.  The right to live in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the US is a party, doesn’t implicate water, the US asserts.  And any discussion of the relationship between water rights and climate change doesn’t belong in the General Assembly in the first place, the US charges.

Meanwhile, in Flint, Michigan and elsewhere in the US, we can see the on-the-ground consequences of US refusal to acknowledge the human right to water — a right that, under international law, requires progressive realization rather than immediate achievement. In Flint, for example, residents have lost trust in government’s assurances about water safety.  The city is in the process of replacing lead pipes, but has been unable to fully complete the work and move on from the crisis in part because of a general lack of trust in Flint’s government and its water initiatives.

While certainly not perfect, California’s legal infrastructure on water provides a sharp contrast that ripples through that state’s communities.  With the legal recognition of the human right to water embedded in California law, legislators and advocacy groups have been able to make important, if partial, progress toward realization of the right.  In the summer of 2019, the Governor signed a new law creating a fund to support clean water access to vulnerable communities, a move widely praised by advocates.  The state’s Human Right to Water on-line portal  — a work in progress — promises to describe other initiatives, and provide data to facilitate continued monitoring of the state’s realization of the right.  

The recent comprehensive research report titled Closing the Water Access Gap acknowledges that simply declaring a human right to water isn’t enough, but notes that the framework adopted in California has changed the framework for advocacy and legislation, and has supported further progress. 

Unfortunately, as a nation, the US still hangs back, refusing to acknowledge the fundamental human rights to water and sanitation, and instead reinforcing the lack of trust in government that stifles progress.