Drinking Water Governance, Equity, and Health

饮用水质量的差异对公众健康造成危害。几次自来水危机表明，分散获得安全用水是一个全国性问题。虽然水质问题往往被视为技术问题，但水治理的相关性日益明显。该项目阐明了导致饮用水和公共卫生不公平的治理失败。一个跨学科的科学家团队结合了空间统计，流行病学和社区研究的专业知识，以了解问责制和信息的差异如何导致不同的水污染暴露。该项目产生的数据集和出版物有可能揭示新的治理解决方案和更公平的水资源政策。传播计划允许与公众、水系统管理人员、环境正义团体和决策者分享知识。此外，该项目通过基于问题的研究机会，在一个为少数群体服务的机构推进本科生培训，这项研究有助于了解问责制和信息失误如何影响安全用水的获取。问责制不足的形式是无争议的水务委员会选举和水务系统建立社区信任的有限做法。选举激励官员为公共利益服务;然而，大多数供水系统没有定期举行选举。除了问责不足外，信息缺失也很常见。由于大量违反水质的行为未申报或未报告，水资源挑战的全部范围并不为公众所知。不知情的社区可能面临健康后果。水传播疾病负担的统计模型研究了不完整的信息如何造成健康差距。该项目利用空间统计数据确定选举问责制与水质之间的联系;此外，社区重点小组和访谈记录了供水系统在公众参与和客户信任自来水方面的做法。总体而言，该项目分析并生成数据，以记录治理问题如何影响饮用水质量和公共卫生。值得注意的是，统计方法与社区的生活经验相结合，使改进的建模，以揭示有前途的政策，以扩大安全用水的访问。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Disparities in drinking water quality pose harm to public health. Several tap water crises have demonstrated that fragmented access to safe water is a national issue. While water quality concerns are often framed as technological issues, the relevance of water governance is increasingly apparent. This project illuminates the governance failures that cause inequities in drinking water and public health. An interdisciplinary team of scientists combines expertise in spatial statistics, epidemiology, and community-based research to understand how differences in accountability and information can cause disparate exposure to water contamination. Datasets and publications generated by this project have the potential to reveal new governance solutions and more equitable water policies. The dissemination plan allows knowledge sharing with the public, water system managers, environmental justice groups, and policymakers. In addition, the project advances undergraduate training at a minority-serving institution through problem-based research opportunities.This study contributes to understanding how access to safe water is shaped by accountability and information failures. Inadequate accountability takes the form of uncontested water board elections and limited practices at water systems to build community trust. Elections create incentives for officials to serve public interests; yet, a majority of water systems fail to hold regular elections. Besides inadequate accountability, information failures are also common. The full scope of water challenges is not publicly known, due to a substantial number of water quality violations that are undeclared or unreported. Uninformed communities can face health consequences. Statistical models of waterborne disease burdens examine how incomplete information can create health disparities. The project uses spatial statistics to identify linkages between electoral accountability and water quality; in addition, community-based focus groups and interviews document water systems’ practices for public participation and customer trust in tap water. Overall, the project analyzes and generates data to document how governance issues influence drinking water quality and public health. Notably, statistical approaches are combined with the lived experiences of communities, allowing improved modeling to reveal promising policies to expand safe water access.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.