Frontline Community Issues

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Frontline Community Issues

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Policies That Elevate Frontline Community Issues

State and local policies are key pathways for advancing water solutions for frontline communities.

At a macro level, establishing a Human Right to Water can provide a critical opening. In addition, communities are adopting innovative regionally-focused policies to provide water services that are more affordable and climate resilient.

Human Right to Water

Several states are experimenting with the concept that access to water and sanitation is a human right, as a foundation for building regulatory and funding solutions to address frontline community challenges.

California has codified into state law that access to water is a human right. This statute has helped build momentum around funding and regulatory pathways for addressing resiliency challenges.
Virginia passed a human right to water resolution in 2021. It seeks to reduce water pollution, mitigate climate change impacts, ensure water affordability, and reduce water shutoffs for nonpayment.
Louisiana cites the UN’s Right to Water—which states that water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity and is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights—as a fundamental state policy driving its efforts to provide safe, clean drinking water.

State and Local programs supporting frontline communities

At the local level, utilities and community groups nationwide are on the ground implementing strategies and programs to respond to frontline community needs. Here are a few examples:

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s MWRD’s Space to Grow program is transforming schoolyards in frontline neighborhoods into green stormwater infrastructure, capturing rainwater and addressing neighborhood flooding issues while also creating beautiful, vibrant and functional community. ~100 green projects have been completed across Cook County (as of 2025), which capture more than 15 million gallons of stormwater per rain event.
Oregon’s Trees Act (House Bill 3016/3409 (2023)) established a Community Green Infrastructure Fund and Grant Program, which directs resources to community organizations to deliver social, environmental or economic benefits to environmental justice communities
California’s Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) provides $130 million per year to provide drinking water for the 1 million Californians (as of 2023) who currently lack it. SAFER funds O&M, utility consolidations, replacement water, and funding for administrators running small systems.