Keep Our Most Essential Service in Public Hands

Seizing on slimming budgets for water, the water industry is aggressively pushing for private control of public water. But that’s not the solution.

Cities across the country where private corporations have assumed ownership or management of public systems have struggled with:

• Egregious rate hikes
• Water quality issues
• Environmental abuses
• Labor disputes and layoffs
• Neglected and underfunded infrastructure
• Loss of local control over an essential public service

On the other hand, investing in public resources, specifically in water infrastructure, creates jobs and profoundly stimulates the economy. Read our report, Public Water Works! to learn more about the need for, and benefits of, public investment in water infrastructure.

We can’t wait any longer. Our economy and most essential public service needs our voice. It’s time for public support to flow once again into the public service that we cannot do without. See the campaign flyer here. 

Leaders Call for Action

Policymakers, thought leaders and activists are calling on the President and Members of Congress to assert water as a national priority. We must create new and improved funding mechanisms for public water systems so we can renew our aging infrastructure and keep these systems publicly owned and operated. 

Signers to the Open Letter:

Public Water Works! Advisory Committee

Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch
George Hawkins, General Manager, DC Water
Van Jones, Rebuild the Dream
Annie Leonard, Story of Stuff

Mayors

Sam Adams, Portland, OR
Ralph Becker, Salt, Lake, City, UT
William Bell, Durham, NC
John Callahan, Bethlehem, PA
Joy Cooper, Hallandale, Beach, FL
Frank Cownie, Des Moines, IA
John Dickert, Racine, WI
Bill Finch, Bridgeport, CT
Deborah Fudge, Windsor, CA
Adolfo Gamez, Tolleson, AZ
David Glass, Petaluma, CA
Vincent Gray, Washington, DC
Jennifer Hosterman, Pleasanton, CA
Mark Kleinschmidt, Chapel Hill, NC
Ed Lee, San Francisco, CA
Lee Leffingwell, Austin, TX
Ron Littlefield, Chattanooga, TN
Mary Lutz, Monrovia, CA
Tony Mack, Trenton, NJ
John Marks, Tallahassee, FL
Timothy McDonough, Hope, NJ
Nancy McFarlane, Raleigh, NC
Gayle McLaughlin, Richmond, CA
Alex Morse, Holyoke, MA
Don Ness, Duluth, MN
Ernesto Olivares, Santa Rosa, CA
Kitty Piercy, Eugene, OR
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore, MD
R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis, MN
Helene Schneider, Santa Barbara, CA
Ann Schwab, Santa Rosa, CA
Pedro Segarra, Hartford, CT
Angel Taveras, Providence, RI

Public Water Directors

Jim Benning, Director of Duluth Public Works and Utilites, Duluth, MN
John Carmen, Public Utilities Director, Raleigh, NC
Ed Harrington, General Manager, SF Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco, CA
George Hawkins, General Manager, DC Water, Washington, D.C. District of Columbia
Henry Meyer, District Manager, Kingston Water Supply, Kingston, RI
Jeff Niermeyer, Director of Salt Lake City Public Utilites, Salt Lake City, UT
Boyce Spinelli, Chief Engineer and General Manager, Providence Water, Providence, RI

Celebrities

Leilani Munter, Racecar Driver
Jackson Brown, Musician
The Ditty Bops, Musicians
Daphne Zuniga, Actor
Tim Robbins, Actor
Rosanna Arquette, Actor
Fran Drescher, Actress