Just 15 miles from downtown Dallas, a historic community founded by formerly enslaved people is still fighting for something many Americans take for granted: access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Clifford Franey, president of the Sand Branch Development Water Supply Corporation, brought that message to Capitol Hill as part of the Vessel Collective Convening in Washington, D.C., where community leaders, water professionals, and advocates met with members of Congress to highlight water access challenges across the United States.
Franey says the unincorporated community of Sand Branch has never had municipal water or sewer service despite decades of growth across the Dallas region.
In response, residents formed their own water board and have spent years working with state and federal partners to secure the resources needed to bring clean water and sanitary drainage systems to the community for the first time.
Their story is a reminder that America's water access gap is not limited to distant or rural places. In some cases, communities lacking basic water infrastructure exist within sight of some of the nation's largest and fastest-growing metropolitan areas.
Learn about the new roadmap for closing the U.S. water access gap: https://www.vesselcollective.us/nationalroadmap
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