Detroit and Baltimore Conduct Mass Water Shutoffs Affecting Majority-Black Households

Detroit began mass water shutoffs in 2014, ultimately disconnecting over 25,000 households — predominantly Black — for non-payment. UN human rights experts called the shutoffs a 'violation of the human right to water.' Baltimore similarly shut off water to tens of thousands of households in the 2010s, with Black neighborhoods most affected. In both cities, water rate increases were driven by decades of deferred infrastructure maintenance and privatization pressures. COVID-19 temporarily halted shutoffs under federal law, but they resumed after relief ended. The shutoffs concentrated in communities that had faced disinvestment, were less able to afford rate increases, and had the least political power to resist.