California water groups sent a letter to the state’s representatives in Congress asking for financial assistance to water utilities and the people they serve during the coronavirus pandemic.

Signed by 59 organizations, the letter makes four main requests for Congress’s next emergency relief bill:

• $100 billion over five years for the federal government’s low-interest loan programs for drinking water and clean water infrastructure, with 20 percent of the funds marked as grants for low-income communities and investor-owned utilities being eligible for funding.
• $4 billion for grants to the states to help low-income households pay their water bills. (This is an increase from the $1.5 billion that House Democrats have proposed.)
• Funding for utilities to offset declines in revenue and the costs of reconnecting water service.
• A provision requiring utilities to suspend the disconnection of water service during the emergency period and to reconnect service to shutoff homes so that all homes have running water during the crisis.

The organizations that signed the letter represent water utilities, social justice advocates, environmental groups, and community partnerships.

The United Nations is now requesting $6.7 billion to carry out its humanitarian response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Unless we take action now, we should be prepared for a significant rise in conflict, hunger and poverty,” said Mark Lowcock, the UN coordinator for humanitarian relief. “The specter of multiple famines looms.”

The funding is direly needed. According to the response plan, “thousands of clinics, health, water and sanitation services to millions of people will be disrupted in coming weeks and months if funding is not provided urgently.”

As of May 5, countries have pledged about $1.5 billion in total humanitarian aid for the pandemic response.

Fifty-four countries were identified as priorities in the initial request for assistance. An additional nine countries — Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Zimbabwe — were added in this update.

Unhygienic environments, inadequate provision of clean water, and poor sanitation are obstacles that must be overcome as South Africa seeks to tame the new coronavirus.

That’s according to a report published by the Wilson Center, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. The four authors of the report are all researchers who are based in South Africa.

“The onset of COVID-19 in South Africa has brought to the fore systemic weaknesses in the quality of service delivery such as water and sanitation services, housing, healthcare, and infrastructure in various communities across the country,” the report concludes.

South Africa has the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa, with 7,220 as of May 5.

The International Organization for Migration released its Covid-19 response plan for Iraq.

The organization intends to help the country stabilize its healthcare system and prevent the spread of the virus among high-risk populations: refugees, internally displaced people, and the poor.

“The COVID-19 outbreak threatens to paralyze an already fragile system and impact the many communities who are still vulnerable and recovering from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant crisis and subsequent economic downturn,” the response plan states.

The IOM is targeting an expansion of water, sanitation, and hygiene services, particularly in refugee camps. Another area of concern is southern Iraq, where residents have protested in recent years about dirty water and substandard health care.

Goals include installing handwashing stations at the entrance to all camps and informal settlements and at points where people congregate. Soap and detergents will also be distributed.

Iraq has about 1.4 million internally displaced people and 300,000 living in camps. As of April 24, there were 1,677 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country.

Small U.S. water and wastewater utilities say that they expect to lose $998 million in revenue through mid-July due to changes in water use and billing practices brought on by the new coronavirus pandemic.

The findings are from a National Rural Water Association survey of 4,636 water and wastewater utilities. NRWA represents water systems that serve fewer than 10,000 people.

Many utilities have suspended water shutoffs during the national emergency for customers who do not pay their bills. Some governors have ordered all utilities in their states to do the same in order to protect public health. Revenue is also being bruised by declining water sales as manufacturing plants, schools, and businesses close.

Not all utilities are affected in the same way. The NRWA survey found that 31 percent of respondents have seen a decrease in water use, while for 57 percent water use stayed the same or increased, due to more at-home consumption.

The water utility industry is lobbying Congress to include aid to utilities and residential customers in future emergency relief packages.