Rising water prices in the U.S. are forcing many households to choose between rationing water or risking shutoff due to unpaid bills. A new study shows that government agencies and water utilities may be underestimating the number of households at risk of losing affordable access to water and offers new methods for better assessment.
Sarah Fletcher, a senior study author and assistant professor at Stanford University, highlights the growing problem of water affordability exacerbated by aging infrastructure, climate change, droughts and rising costs of water quality maintenance.
The traditional method of assessing water affordability, the "affordability ratio" — which compares total monthly
