In August 2022, the water crisis in Jackson, MS, made national news when flooding shut down the main water treatment plant, leaving over a hundred thousand people without safe drinking water. It was one of the worst episodes in a multigenerational saga of injustice that has included three citywide water shutoffs.

The TV cameras have long since moved on, and the official federal and state emergency declarations have long ago been lifted, but the crisis persists. Ongoing problems – transparent access to data about the water quality, exclusion of community voices in the process of fixing the water system, and lack of accountability for the state and federal government – continue to endanger the health of residents in this majority-Black city. 

Celebrated on March 22nd every year, World Water Day is an ideal moment to spotlight Jackson residents’ long struggle to realize their human right to safe water. Residents are battling for self-determination and democratic control of an essential public utility in the face of neglect, disinvestment, and privatization. The issue stems from systemic racism, resulting in inequitable funding and blatant disrespect for local governance, and is rooted in the belief that Black people should not be permitted to govern themselves. 

Last year, via a motion we filed on their behalf, two local community grassroots advocacy groups – the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign and the People’s Advocacy Institute – became parties in the federal safe drinking water lawsuit against the city.  The grassroots groups’ intervention in the lawsuit ensured that the community had a voice in the proceedings where they were previously shut out. 

Control of the city’s water system currently resides with JXN Water, the private corporation managed by the court-appointed interim third-party manager Ted Henifin. As many low-income residents struggle to pay their bills, JXN Water is poised to enact more water cuts and rate increases. In short, the city’s residents will be paying more amid a lack of meaningful government accountability, accessible distribution of data on the water quality, and community involvement in the years-long process to fix and stabilize the water system.

While the injustices continue, so, too, do local community organizing and advocacy efforts. For World Water Day, we affirm our solidarity with the residents of Jackson as they work to secure a safe and accountable water system.

maya finoh is the political education and research manager at the Center for Constitutional Rights