CityLab Daily: Water Crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, Previews a Wetter, Hotter US Future

In Jackson, Mississippi, an ongoing water crisis illustrates how America’s water systems were built for a climate that no longer exists. All it took was a bout of heavy rain — not even record-setting — to overwhelm the city’s main water-treatment plant. The outage left tens of thousands without safe drinking water. The emergency also hints at trouble to come for the rest of the country as climate change piles new stress onto the essential services Americans rely on every day.

Critical water failures have been building up over time in Jackson due to a combination of systemic racism, crumbling infrastructure, and more extreme weather. The state has chronically underinvested in maintenance and capital improvements, a problem that can trace its roots back to the White flight of the 1950s, which shrunk the city’s overall tax base. Today, Jackson’s predominantly lower-income and minority population is paying the price. Even if reliable water quickly returns, another storm could trigger problems anew. Read the report from Bloomberg’s Zahra Hirji, Kriston Capps, Ella Ceron, Leslie Kaufman, and Brentin Mock today on CityLab: Jackson, Mississippi, Water Crisis Previews a Wetter, Hotter US Future