Maybe Rotary International Can Fund a Well Project for Detroit

Business-oriented service club
Rotary International raises money to fund projects to help build
clean water wells for third-world citizens in Africa, Asia, and
Latin America (example of their efforts here; full disclosure:
I’m an extremely lapsed Rotary member from back during my
newspaperman days).  Maybe we should consider sending them up
to Detroit.

The latest news in the decades-long collapse of Motor City is
that the Detroit Water and Sewage Department began cracking down on
businesses and residents who had fallen behind on their bills,
sending out tens of thousands of turn-off warnings. In May, the
city cut off the water to about 4,500 residents. A spokesman for
the department said that most of the affected people made
arrangements to turn the water back on within 48 hours. But since
then several local groups have essentially embraced Detroit’s
status as a third-world municipality and has called on United
Nations for aid. From the
Detroit Free Press:

The coalition stated in
an 8-page report issued June 18 that it heard directly from
people impacted by the shutoffs, who claimed they were given no
warning.

“Sick people have been left without running water and working
toilets,” the report states. “People recovering from surgery cannot
wash and change bandages. Children cannot bathe and parents cannot
cook.”

The coalition is calling for services to be restored and for
state and federal agencies to help prevent a transfer of the
utility’s financial burden onto residents who are currently paying
“exorbitant rates.”

The news report unfortunately lacks any context about the claim
of “exorbitant rates.” Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) in the same
story claims that water rates in Detroit have increased by 119
percent over the past decade, which, while it seems like a big
number, I don’t believe is actually out of line with what other
municipalities have experienced. The Detroit water department
offers
this chart (pdf) showing their rates from 2010 being on the low
end compared to other large municipalities.

Nevertheless, after the outrage and press coverage bubbled up,
Detroit announced an
$800,000 program to help low-income residents pay water bills.
Part of the money will be paid for by a 50-cent charge on all water
bills, though there have apparently also been private donations.
They need to call Rotary in there to build some wells, guys!