July 27, 2020

The annual Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum, a collaborative initiative between the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, serves as a platform for addressing domestic water challenges in the 21st century. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Forum took place across a series of virtual sessions exploring what constitutes good water governance through the lenses of water affordability and equity. While this topic was chosen prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the pandemic has further revealed and exacerbated health and financial disparities across racial, gender, and geographic lines.

On July 23rd, the group came together for the second session of the 2020 Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum Virtual Series on Water Affordability to address the critical issues and solutions in the water sector brought to light by the pandemic. Participants focused on the unique water affordability and equity challenges in rural communities, colonies, and tribal nations. Equity and Affordability in Rural Communities and Tribal Nations summarizes these discussions of the July session.