This week’s episode of What’s Up With Water covers recent heatwaves in India and Pakistan and the reason some homes in Australia may become “uninsurable.” Plus, Circle of Blue reports on how rising water costs in Michigan are impacting low-income households.
Welcome to “What’s Up With Water” – your need-to-know news of the world’s water from Circle of Blue. I’m Eileen Wray-McCann.
In India and Pakistan, recent heat waves, worsened by a changing climate, are causing dangerous water and electricity shortages. At the same time the heat is setting the stage for rampant forest fires. The Guardian reports that conditions are brutal in Turbat, a Pakistani city of about 200,000 people. Several times this spring the temperature in Turbat soared to nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the heat, Pakistan residents continue to endure daily electricity cuts, losing about nine hours of electricity each day. The heat wave has punished neighboring India, as well. Average maximum temperatures in northwest and central India broke records for the month of April, according to the national weather service. Electricity use also set a monthly record, due to demand for air conditioning. The hot and dry conditions have triggered thousands of forest fires. Wheat harvests have dropped by up to 50 percent in some areas, worsening fears about global food shortages amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. The severity of this and other recent heat waves in the region is a consequence of climate change. Burning fossil fuels has caused heat-trapping gases to accumulate in the atmosphere. But, as Reuters reports, the Indian government’s response to electricity shortages will contribute to the problem. India’s coal ministry said that 100 retired coal mines would reopen to in order to fuel the power generation that is needed to mitigate the effects of the heat.
In Australia, climate change could soon hit home for residents – literally. A new report finds that one in 25 Australian homes could become “effectively uninsurable” by 2030 due to climate hazards such as flooding and bushfires. In regions most affected by climate change, that number rises to more than one in 10. A property becomes “effectively uninsurable” when insurance premiums become so high the property is unaffordable to the average homeowner. Karl Mallon, a researcher with Climate Valuation, which provided data for the report, said that his team encountered premiums as high as $30,000 a year.
This week Circle of Blue reports on how rising water costs are affecting low-income households in Michigan.
Water rates are going up across Michigan as communities take on long-awaited upgrades to troubled water, sewer, and drainage systems. These investments are important for the state’s future, but they expose low-income households to financial stress. A comprehensive University of Michigan report published last year found that average water prices in the state, when adjusted for inflation, had nearly doubled between 1980 and 2018. Studies show that public officials should be concerned about rising water prices and their effect on the state’s poorest residents.
Take the case of Summer, a 58-year-old resident of Oak Park, Michigan who’s on a fixed income from disability payments. Summer said she has to be stingy with water to make her monthly budget work. Water, sewer, stormwater, and garbage collection are all part of the same bill. To keep it in the $120 range, Summer washes clothes once a week, and sometimes stretches that to every other week. With all her other bills, waste is a luxury she cannot afford.
Oak Park is among the urban areas in Michigan’s southeastern counties, places that have especially suffered the conditions plaguing water infrastructure. In the last half-century, Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, River Rouge, Inkster and others have had to contend with rising costs, aging systems, declining populations, spendthrift emergency managers, and high poverty rates. But they are not alone. The University of Michigan data reveals that rising water prices affect every corner of the state, with high-cost pockets in the Thumb and Upper Peninsula.
What happens to residents who can’t afford to pay high water rates? Late fees accumulate, adding to the financial strain. Oak Park residents who receive a shutoff notice in the mail have to pay $10 to the utility for the warning. If the water is shut off, residents pay $90 to $150 to get it turned back on, depending on the time of day that that happens. Kevin VanDeWalle, the Oak Park water supervisor, said the fees are designed to pass along the cost of operations.
Some Michigan cities also use fees. Shanir Smith is a West Bloomfield resident whose water was shut off in February for past-due bills. She said that her utility designed a three-month payment plan for her, but it has a 9 percent interest rate, which makes it harder to recover.
Though the rising cost of water is a state and national phenomenon, there is no clear-cut definition for what constitutes “affordable” water. It’s complicated because water affordability is relative. It’s about more than just the amount due on the bill, but how it compares to the receiver’s household income and to the cost of other essential expenses like food, housing, energy, and healthcare.
In the broader sense, utility leaders are realizing what advocates have been saying for years: if you want to address affordability at the household level, you have to deal with tangential issues such as the quality of in-home plumbing and a utility’s fines and fees. Dripping faucets and leaking pipes raise bills unexpectedly. High charges for late payments can put people who are struggling financially farther behind.
Assistance programs are one way to help. The 112 communities who get water from the Great Lakes Water Authority are eligible to sign up for the Water Rate Assistance Program. The program offers debt relief, bill credits, and plumbing repairs.
And there could be other assistance models coming to southeast Michigan. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is developing its own water affordability plan. Bryan Peckinpaugh, the department’s public affairs director, said that the plan would take a “multi-pronged approach,” but he did not provide more details. In Oakland County, the water resources commission is completing a state-funded water affordability plan for two communities, Pontiac and Royal Oak Township. Jim Nash, the water resources commissioner, said the goal is two-fold: to help those who struggle to pay an average bill and to develop a program for assisting people in emergency situations, such as job loss.
Local water leaders like Nash say the financial imbalance between the revenue a utility needs and ability of some customers to pay can only be solved by funding from the outside. In other words, state or federal dollars are needed. Said Nash, “We can’t just put all the burden on the local ratepayers. It just can’t work in the long term. It’s not sustainable.”
And that’s “What’s Up With Water” from Circle of Blue, where water speaks. More water news and analysis await you at circleofblue.org. This is Eileen Wray-McCann – thanks for being here.
Eileen Wray-McCann is a writer, director and narrator who co-founded Circle of Blue. During her 13 years at Interlochen Public Radio, a National Public Radio affiliate in Northern Michigan, Eileen produced and hosted regional and national programming. She’s won Telly Awards for her scriptwriting and documentary work, and her work with Circle of Blue follows many years of independent multimedia journalistic projects and a life-long love of the Great Lakes. She holds a BA and MA radio and television from the University of Detroit. Eileen is currently moonlighting as an audio archivist and enjoys traveling through time via sound.
"Wakati wa wiki hii, ""What's Up With Water"" inazungumzia joto la India na Pakistan na sababu ya baadhi ya nyumba nchini Australia kuwa ""uninsurable"" na ""Circle of Blue"" inaripoti jinsi gharama za maji zinazopanda katika Michigan zinaathiri familia zenye mapato ya chini." Karibu kwenye <unk>What<unk>s Up With Water<unk> <unk> habari zako za lazima za kujua za maji ya ulimwengu kutoka Circle of Blue. Mimi ni Eileen Wray-McCann. Katika India na Pakistan, mawimbi ya joto ya hivi karibuni, yaliyozidishwa na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, yanasababisha upungufu hatari wa maji na umeme. Wakati huohuo, joto hilo linafanya misitu iangamie sana. Gazeti la The Guardian limesema kuwa hali ya hewa ni mbaya sana katika mji wa Turbat, Pakistan, ambao una wakazi wapatao 200,000. Katika majira ya kuchipua, joto la joto katika eneo la Turbat lilipanda mara kadhaa hadi karibu digrii 120 Fahrenheit. Hata hivyo, wakazi wa Pakistan wanaendelea kukabiliwa na kukatika kwa umeme kwa muda wa saa tisa kila siku. Wimbi la joto limesababisha msiba mkubwa nchini India. Joto la wastani la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto la joto. Matumizi ya umeme pia yaliweka rekodi ya kila mwezi, kwa sababu ya mahitaji ya hali ya hewa. Hali ya joto na ukame imesababisha maelfu ya mioto ya msituni. Mavuno ya ngano yamepungua kwa asilimia 50 katika maeneo fulani, na kuimarisha hofu ya upungufu wa chakula duniani kote wakati wa vita vya Urusi nchini Ukraine. Ukali wa wimbi hili la joto na mengine ya hivi karibuni katika eneo hilo ni matokeo ya mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. Moto wa mafuta ya visukuku umesababisha gesi zinazovuta joto zikusanyike angani. Lakini, kama Reuters inavyoripoti, majibu ya serikali ya India kwa upungufu wa umeme yatasaidia tatizo hilo. Wizara ya makaa ya mawe ya India imesema kuwa migodi 100 ya makaa ya mawe iliyopunguzwa kazi itafunguliwa tena ili kuimarisha uzalishaji wa umeme unaohitajika kupunguza athari za joto. Nchini Australia, mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa yanaweza kuwaathiri wakazi wa nchi hiyo hivi karibuni. Ripoti mpya ya Australia inasema kwamba moja kati ya nyumba 25 za Australia zinaweza kuwa "haijahifadhiwa" kufikia 2030 kutokana na hatari za hali ya hewa kama vile mafuriko na moto wa misitu. Katika maeneo yaliyoathiriwa na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, idadi hiyo huongezeka hadi zaidi ya moja kwa kila kumi. Mali inakuwa "halisi uninsurable" wakati bima ya bima kuwa juu sana mali ni unbearable kwa mwenye nyumba ya wastani. Karl Mallon, mtafiti wa Climate Valuation, ambaye alitoa data kwa ripoti hiyo, alisema timu yake ilikutana na malipo ya juu kama $ 30,000 kwa mwaka. Kwa mfano, gazeti la Circle of Blue limesema kuwa gharama za maji zinaathiri sana watu wenye mapato ya chini nchini Marekani. Viwango vya maji vinapanda kote Michigan wakati jamii zinapofanya marekebisho ya muda mrefu kwa maji yenye shida, mifumo ya mifereji ya maji machafu, na mifumo ya mifereji ya maji. Uwekezaji huu ni muhimu kwa siku zijazo za serikali, lakini huweka kaya zenye mapato ya chini chini kwa mfadhaiko wa kifedha. Ripoti ya Chuo Kikuu cha Michigan iligundua kuwa bei ya maji ya wastani katika jimbo hilo, wakati umebadilishwa kwa mfumuko wa bei, karibu mara mbili kati ya 1980 na 2018. Uchunguzi unaonyesha kuwa maafisa wa umma wanapaswa kuwa na wasiwasi juu ya kuongezeka kwa bei ya maji na athari zao kwa wakazi maskini zaidi wa jimbo hilo. Mmoja wa watu hao ni Summer, mwenye umri wa miaka 58 ambaye anaishi Oak Park, Michigan, na anayepata mapato ya kudumu kutokana na malipo ya ulemavu. Summer alisema kwamba ni lazima awe mchafu kwa maji ili bajeti yake ya kila mwezi ifanye kazi. Maji, mifereji ya maji machafu, maji ya mvua, na mkusanyiko wa taka ni sehemu ya muswada uleule. Kwa hivyo, kwa sababu ya gharama ya kawaida ya kuosha nguo, Summer anafanya hivyo mara moja kwa wiki, na mara nyingine mara mbili kwa wiki. Pamoja na bili zake nyingine zote, kupoteza pesa ni anasa ambayo hawezi kufurahia. Oak Park ni miongoni mwa maeneo ya mijini katika kaunti za kusini mashariki mwa Michigan, maeneo ambayo yameteseka hasa hali ya kuambukiza miundombinu ya maji. Katika nusu karne iliyopita, Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, River Rouge, Inkster na wengine wamelazimika kupambana na kuongezeka kwa gharama, mifumo ya kuzeeka, idadi ya watu inayopungua, wasimamizi wa dharura wa kutumia pesa nyingi, na viwango vya juu vya umaskini. Lakini si wao peke yao. Takwimu za Chuo Kikuu cha Michigan zinaonyesha kuwa kuongezeka kwa bei ya maji kunathiri kila kona ya jimbo, na mifuko ya gharama kubwa katika Thumb na Upper Peninsula. Ni nini kinachotokea kwa wakazi ambao hawawezi kulipa viwango vya juu vya maji? Malipo ya kuchelewa huongezeka, na hilo huongeza mkazo wa kifedha. Wakazi wa Oak Park ambao wamepokea taarifa ya kuzima kwa barua lazima walipe $ 10 kwa huduma kwa onyo. Ikiwa maji yamekatwa, wakazi hulipa $ 90 hadi $ 150 ili kuifungua tena, kulingana na wakati wa siku ambayo hutokea. Kevin VanDowell, msimamizi wa maji wa Oak Park, alisema ada hizo zimekusudiwa kupitisha gharama za shughuli. Baadhi ya majiji ya Michigan pia hutumia ada. Shanir Smith ni mkaaji wa West Bloomfield ambaye maji yake yalifungwa mwezi Februari kwa ajili ya bili zilizopitwa na wakati. Kampuni hiyo imempa mpango wa malipo ya miezi mitatu, lakini ina kiwango cha riba cha asilimia 9, na hivyo inakuwa vigumu kupata pesa. Ingawa kuongezeka kwa gharama ya maji ni jambo la serikali na la kitaifa, hakuna ufafanuzi wazi wa kile kinachohusisha maji ya "bado ya bei nafuu". Ni ngumu kwa sababu bei ya maji ni ya kiasi. Ni kuhusu zaidi ya kiasi tu inayostahili juu ya muswada, lakini jinsi inalingana na mapato ya kaya ya mpokeaji na gharama ya gharama nyingine muhimu kama chakula, makazi, nishati, na huduma za afya. Kwa maana pana, viongozi wa huduma wanafahamu kile watetezi wamekuwa wakisema kwa miaka: ikiwa unataka kushughulikia upatikanaji wa gharama nafuu katika ngazi ya kaya, lazima ushughulike na masuala ya tangential kama vile ubora wa mifereji ya maji ya ndani ya nyumba na faini na ada za huduma. Mabomba yanayomwagika na mabomba yanayomwagika huongeza bili bila kutazamiwa. Gharama kubwa za malipo ya kuchelewa zaweza kuwafanya watu wanaopambana kifedha waendelee kushindwa. Programu za msaada ni njia moja ya kusaidia. Jamii 112 zinazopokea maji kutoka Mamlaka ya Maji ya Maziwa Makuu zinastahili kujiandikisha kwa Programu ya Msaada wa Kiwango cha Maji. Programu hiyo hutoa misaada ya deni, mikopo ya bili, na marekebisho ya mabomba. Na kunaweza kuwa na mifano mingine ya msaada kuja kusini mashariki mwa Michigan. Idara ya Maji na Uchafuzi ya Detroit inaendeleza mpango wake mwenyewe wa upatikanaji wa maji. Bryan Peckinpaugh, mkurugenzi wa masuala ya umma wa idara hiyo, alisema kwamba mpango huo utachukua "mbinu ya pande nyingi", lakini hakutoa maelezo zaidi. Tume ya rasilimali za maji ya Kaunti ya Oakland imekamilisha mpango wa gharama nafuu wa maji unaofadhiliwa na serikali kwa jamii mbili, Pontiac na Royal Oak Township. "Kama ilivyoripotiwa na shirika la habari la BBC, Jim Nash, kamishna wa rasilimali za maji alisema ""lengo ni mbili: kuwasaidia wale wanaopambana kulipa bili ya wastani na kuendeleza mpango wa kusaidia watu katika hali za dharura, kama vile kupoteza kazi.""" Viongozi wa maji wa eneo hilo, kama vile Nash, wanasema ukosefu wa usawa wa kifedha kati ya mapato ya mahitaji ya huduma na uwezo wa wateja fulani kulipa, unaweza kutatuliwa tu kwa ufadhili kutoka nje. Kwa maneno mengine, dola za serikali au za shirikisho zinahitajika. Nash alisema, "Hatuwezi tu kuweka mzigo wote juu ya walipa kodi wa ndani. Haiwezi kufanya kazi kwa muda mrefu. Si endelevu. Na hiyo ni "What's Up With Water" kutoka Circle of Blue, ambapo maji huzungumza. Habari zaidi za maji na uchambuzi zinakusubiri kwenye circleofblue.org. Hii ni Eileen Wray-McCann <unk> asante kwa kuwa hapa. Eileen Wray-McCann ni mwandishi, mkurugenzi na msimuliaji ambaye alianzisha Circle of Blue. Katika miaka yake 13 katika Interlochen Public Radio, kampuni ya National Public Radio katika Kaskazini mwa Michigan, Eileen alitengeneza na kuandaa programu za kikanda na kitaifa. Yeye ameshinda Telly Awards kwa ajili ya maandishi yake na kazi ya maandishi, na kazi yake na Mzunguko wa Blue ifuatavyo miaka mingi ya kujitegemea multimedia miradi ya uandishi wa habari na upendo wa maisha ya Maziwa Makuu. Ana BA na MA redio na televisheni kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Detroit. Eileen kwa sasa ni moonlighting kama audio archivist na anafurahia kusafiri kwa njia ya muda kupitia sauti.