On Tap
Infrastructure in the United States is Failing and the Health Implications are Staggering | By Kimberly J. Soenen March 30, 2023
(Ma’kayla Jackson uses a laptop to do homework in her grandmother’s dining room in Jackson, Mississippi on January. 5, 2023 while surrounded by water bottles. Photo by Rory Doyle for The Guardian.)
In the August of 2022, residents of Jackson, Mississippi, were suddenly without clean drinking water after heavy rain caused the Pearl River to crest just below the major flood stage. A major pump at the city’s main water treatment facility was damaged and poor Public Health infrastructure exacerbated the crisis.
Today, residents are still living without clean, safe water.
Jackson, Mississippi / United States. Pearl River flood water rising, August 28, 2022.
Billions of dollars have been made available by the United States federal government over the last several years for investments in community water infrastructure, to avert Public Health distress like the one in Jackson. This funding has not made it to the communities that need it most. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan first introduced the country to what Black communities have known for years about the under investment in water infrastructure in their neighborhoods. Now, these catastrophes are happening across the United States.
My colleague Rory Doyle has been documenting how people are living without clean water in Mississippi. We discussed what he has personally witnessed in the homes of the people who are struggling to stay healthy and fighting for help, at once.
Soenen: What have you witnessed over the last year of coverage regarding the water safety crisis there?
Doyle: The problem with the water situation in Jackson is that the dilemma is never-ending and always-present for the citizens. When there's a big break in the system, national and international media swoop in for a handful of days, and then the news cycle shifts to something else. It's hard to make sense of the large lines of people waiting to receive water in plastic bottles because the water running through the pipes is unsafe. The tragedy is that Jacksonians have been dealing with this for decades.
“It's hard to comprehend — to keep photographing the story of the Jackson, Mississippi water crisis. The suffering this is causing Jackson residents is unacceptable. For The Guardian, I spent time with a grandmother caring for her eight grandchildren, a son with sickle cell anemia, and a daughter who spends her days distributing drinking water to citizens across the city.”
- Rory Doyle
Soenen: How do families cope and what do they do to survive?
Doyle: There are all kinds of sacrifices families make. Boiling water for dishwashing and bathing, using bottled water for nearly everything, sitting in long drive-through lines at water distribution sites…Some people recycle old plastic bottles and containers and drive to the suburbs to fill up their bottles at any fountains or sinks they can access.
Soenen: How did the crisis start and why has it gone on so long? We know why, but what is your experience?
Doyle: The infrastructure has been crumbling for decades. Jackson, and the state of Mississippi, just haven't had the funding to fix the system. They do patchwork fixes when something breaks, but there's never enough money for a complete overhaul. In my opinion, this is very much tied to systematic racism. Jackson is more than 80% African American, and not enough people outside Jackson have cared to truly resolve these decades-long injustices.
Soenen: Is there one encounter with a family not having water that stuck with you or stood out?
Doyle: I recently photographed a single mother of eight children living without safe water. It's mind-blowing. Ironically, the mom works for the Poor People's Campaign distributing drinking water to citizens around the city.
(Photo by Rory Doyle)
Soenen: What is the status of the crisis now?
Doyle: For Jacksonians, it's more of the same currently. There is some hope that the federal government could actually produce results. At the end of 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA worked to appoint a third-party manager to fix things with federal dollars. (Note from the editor: See Additional Reading below for a status update on that appointee as of this writing.)
(Photo by Rory Doyle)
Soenen: When you are shooting these stories, as an American citizen, how does it make you feel?
Doyle: There's a mix of emotions covering these stories. For one, I'm entering someone's home with my camera, so I'm grateful for their trust and acceptance when they are vulnerable and exhausted from this disaster. It's unacceptable that people have to call a place home when their water is unsafe. That angers me, frustrates me. And this coverage is a constant reminder of how privileged I am to go home to safe water every day. Water is life — and that's not guaranteed across America. How is this possible?
(Photo by Rory Doyle)
Soenen: Most important shoot you’ve ever done?
Doyle: That's a hard question. I'm proud of a project supported by the Housing Assistance Council which focused on a rural subdivision that exemplifies suffering caused by the lack of oversight in affordable housing.
Soenen: A few questions about craft and life?
Doyle: I’m up.
Soenen: Canon, Leica, Nikon, Sony or…?
Doyle: I primarily shoot with Nikon DSLRs, but I also have a couple Sony mirrorless bodies paired with Zeiss lenses, which I love.
Soenen: Favorite place to eat?
Doyle: We love a little Italian-American place in Oxford, MS called Tarasque Cucina. The chef and his wife are amazing people with a delicious menu.
Soenen: Mississippi River power or The Gulf?
Doyle: I am incredibly drawn to the Mississippi River. I live a very short distance from the river, and I love to walk it, swim close to the banks, and go on canoe expeditions on the Mighty Mississippi.
Soenen: Crawfish Etouffee, or Mississippi Mud Pie?
Doyle: Crawfish Etouffee. I love Cajun food, culture and music.
Soenen Favorite music or bands?
Doyle: I like a lot of indie folk/rock — Andrew Bird, M. Ward, My Morning Jacket, Gregory Alan Isakov, Black Keys.
Soenen: Most influential mentors or photographers?
Ron Haviv. He was the first person I assisted in a workshop setting, and he's been incredibly supportive ever since.
Soenen: Best film on journalism dramatic or documentary?
Doyle: "Baraka" was introduced to me as a journalism student, and I've been influenced by it ever since.
Soenen: Are you hopeful about the future of United States Public Health and healthcare? And if so, why?
Doyle: I'm hopeful in the sense that things can only go up from here. Healthcare is so unaffordable or inaccessible for so many Americans — I believe it must get better at some point down the line.
(Photo by Rory Doyle)
ADDITIONAL READING
The Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition met with officials from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Justice. In November of 2023, those two agencies agreed to a federal order with the city of Jackson that put a third-party manager, Ted Henifin, in control of rehabbing the drinking water system. The EPA and DOJ are requesting an online survey for input on the future of the water system. Jacksonians interested in participating can access the survey at this link.
‘They Let Us Down: Water Crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, Flows from Systemic Racism” | Southern Poverty Law Center | September 2022
‘This is no way to live’: Mississippians struggle with another water crisis - The Guardian | January 2023
Learn more about Rory Doyle’s ongoing work and follow him here.
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