We talk about “grocery deserts” where residents have to drive 25 miles just to get to a grocery store. It’s a public policy problem, especially in small, rural communities. The same is true of medical care. But poverty isn’t a rural issue. It’s an urban one. A recent study showed that roughly 1.1 million Americans do not have adequate access to water. This is called water poverty. This is not Flint, Michigan. This is not a Native Reservation. This applies to cities like San Francisco, Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas. The Biden administration plans massive investment in infrastructure. It irks me that some cities and counties that failed to account for maintenance and upgrades will likely get grants to boost their own investments. Nevertheless, I think the infrastructure investment in water is past due. People have suffered this past year and the suffering is not concluded. We need only look to the climate disaster in Texas where “real” people (meaning people like me and you) were without heat and water for days. Now that “real” people know what water poverty is, there will be support for investment and the taxes that make it possible.