7.8.2: Case Study- The Jackson Water Crisis
- Page ID
- 119579
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)The residents of Jackson, Mississippi are no strangers to boil-water advisories. The city has dealt with infrastructure problems for years; massive leaks, E. coli and lead concerns, and a lack of funding and staffing to maintain its aging water and sanitation facilities (Pettus, 2022). A cold snap in 2021, and heavy winter storms in 2022 caused pipes to burst and shut off water supplies to thousands (Adams, 2023). When heavy rains caused the nearby river to overflow in the summer of 2022, one of the city’s two water treatment facilities was compromised (Breslow, 2022). Since low water pressure allows bacteria and other contaminants to seep in through cracks in the aging pipes, residents were under yet another boil-water advisory, and bottled water was distributed (Pettus, 2022).
Jackson’s chronic water crisis demonstrates the complex interplay of social determinants of health, environmental health, public health policies, and politics. To begin with, 80% of the 150,000 residents in Jackson, Mississippi are Black, and a quarter of them (25%) are at or below the poverty threshold (Pettus, 2022). Mississippi has a long history of racism and white supremacy, with Jackson at the center of the Freedom Riders protest, when civil rights activists were arrested for riding segregated public transportation from DC (Contributors to Wikimedia projects, 2024). Jim Crow laws, housing discrimination and underinvestment in communities of color have disproportionately exposed Black populations to environmental hazards (USGCRP, 2023c). After the integration of schools in the 1960s, white families moved out of Jackson en masse over the next several decades - so called “white flight” to the surrounding suburbs (Wiggins & Morrow, 2022). For these and other reasons, tax income to the city has declined, and Jackson has long had problems with finding money to fix its infrastructure (Pettus, 2022), some of which is over 100 years old (SPLC, 2023). Jackson’s history of discrimination and underinvestment are compounded by emerging environmental factors. Climate change is contributing to more rainfall and severe storms - including hurricanes and more severe flooding in the southeast U.S. region (USGCRP, 2023c). While an EPA investigation into the recent water crisis concluded that state agencies did not racially discriminate against Jackson’s residents in distributing federal funds for infrastructure updates (Muhammad & Judin, 2024), it is clear that a combination of systemic and historic racism, poverty, policies, and climate change are contributing to the struggles Jackson is facing in providing clean water to its residents.
You may also want to view this brief news story from PBS News Hour (September 12, 2022) about the Jackson water crisis.
References
Adams, C. (2023, January 17). Jackson, Mississippi, still dealing with water crisis. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...isis-rcna65563
Breslow, J. (2022, August 31). The water crisis in Jackson follows years of failure to fix an aging system. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/31/11201...i-water-crisis
Contributors to Wikimedia projects. (2024, June 11). Jackson, Mississippi. Wikipedia. https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson,_Mississippi
PBS News Hour. (2022, September 12). How Jackson, Mississippi's water crisis is a sign of larger racial inequities. [Video]. https://youtu.be/b-ngjHkoLT4?si=eyZAxTxkWoUbIC_4
Pettus, E. W. (2022, September 2). EXPLAINER: Mississippi capital’s water woes are extensive. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/biden-mis...ea48a10c474df8
SPLC. (2023). New Orleans homeowners still in financial storm 18 years after Katrina. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/news/2023/...ricane-katrina
SPLC. (2023, June 28). Mississippi city’s water problems stem from generations of neglect. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/news/2023/...water-problems
USGCRP. (2023c). Chapter 22: Southeast. Fifth National Climate Assessment. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/22/
(USGCRP) Hayden, M.H., P.J. Schramm, C.B. Beard, J.E. Bell, A.S. Bernstein, A. Bieniek-Tobasco, N. Cooley, M. Diuk-Wasser, Michael K. Dorsey, K.L. Ebi, K.C. Ernst, M.E. Gorris, P.D. Howe, A.S. Khan, C. Lefthand-Begay, J. Maldonado, S. Saha, F. Shafiei, A. Vaidyanathan, and O.V. Wilhelmi. (2023): Ch. 15. Human health. In: Fifth National Climate Assessment. Crimmins, A.R., C.W. Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, B.C. Stewart, and T.K. Maycock, Eds. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA. https://doi.org/10.7930/NCA5.2023.CH15
Wiggins, A., & Morrow, M. (2022, June 14). ‘The Fearless 11’: The impact of white flight and integration in Jackson, Miss. Mississippi Free Press. https://www.mississippifreepress.org...-jackson-miss/