Panel Paper:
Disparities in the Distribution of Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Stetson E (Hyatt Regency Chicago)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Despite concerns about how uneven access to capital for infrastructure investments undergirds disparities in drinking water services, few studies assess the correlation between community demographic characteristics and access to capital. This paper examines the distribution of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), a federal loan and grant program to finance drinking water infrastructure, in 10 states from 2012-2016. Combining data from project-level DWSRF reports, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) database, and the U.S. Census Bureau, I use hierarchical multivariate logistic regressions to determine whether public water systems serving low-resource communities, often with high percentage of nonwhite or low-income residents, apply for and receive DWSRF investments at the same rate as communities with more resources. I expect that investment will follow patterns similar to other environmental amenities, i.e. a positive correlation between resources and access to loans.
