New Report: Data on Tap: Realizing Human Rights through Water Utility Reporting Laws

Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) at Northeastern University School of Law, Data on Tap: Realizing Human Rights through Water Utility Reporting Laws (May 2023). Excerpts below.

Local water utilities’ policies regarding access, pricing, payment schedules, shutoffs, and debt collection have significant impacts on the individuals and communities that these utilities serve. In recent years, a distinct legislative trend towards mandated water policy transparency has been gaining momentum across the country. Simultaneously, an international push for affordable water access has been spearheaded by the United Nations as part of its Sustainable Development Goals. While these laws represent an important movement towards realization of the human right to water, they also work towards securing a less discussed human right: access to government- held information.

The Human Rights Committee guidance noted that Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) had been previously interpreted by the committee to mean that all persons should receive information from the State regarding their covenant rights. Just a year prior the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution unequivocally stating that water access is essential to the enjoyment of the right to life protected by numerous human rights instruments, including the ICCPR. Thus, as water is a right protected by the ICCPR, there is a right to receive information about water policies from the state. The United States has ratified the ICCPR with no reservations related to Article 19, and as such is obligated to recognize the right to access information embodied within that section.

The human right to information is more expansive. It obligates government to take positive actions to share information. Access to government-held information is often the only way to determine the presence of inequities and inadequacies in a government’s support for human rights. Rising water costs, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the widening income gap in the U.S. have combined to spur a new legislative focus on water accessibility and affordability. Amidst ongoing calls for government responses to racial inequities, some state legislatures began to introduce requirements aimed at collecting data to document the prevalence and geographic spread of service disconnections. As of February 2023, six state legislatures have considered legislation requiring data collection and public reporting by water utilities. Several of these initiatives have resulted in new laws requiring additional reporting and information-sharing with the public.

The introduction and implementation of water utility reporting laws represents an important shift towards greater recognition of the human right to access information. If the promise contained in the UDHR and ICCPR of a right to access information is to be fully realized within the United States, then governments at the federal, state, and local levels must take steps to proactively make critical information available. The enactment of more, and more robust, water utility reporting requirements will ensure that recent progress continues while at the same time further ensuring realization of the human right to water.