Nate Benson | January 3, 2025

On the heels of allegations that Buffalo Water misused $11 million from the American Rescue Plan funds it received, a new study highlights a gap in affordability and a growing water debt problem in the Queen City. 

Buffalo Water was awarded $11M from the Rescue Plan to use for a water debt relief program. Instead, the agency used the funds for a capital project. 

The Common Council had to retroactively approve that use of funds during a special meeting on Dec. 23. 

But for several years, the Partnership for the Public Good has been compiling data that highlights the areas that are suffering from a water affordability issue, as well as a water debt issue. 

"At the start of the pandemic, many of our partners reached out and shared with us that there were hundreds of families in Buffalo living without running water at that time," said Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, executive director at the Partnership for the Public Good. 

While there were some pandemic-era programs that kicked in when the world was sent home amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, PPG Buffalo wanted to look at the issue from a historical context. 

"We started to wonder, how big of an issue was this? How many families, year to year, have been living without water? How much debt is owed in the city of Buffalo? How many people can't afford their water bills?" Ó Súilleabháin said. 

After a series of freedom of information law requests, and years long analysis of data, the Partnership for the Public Good released a report.

"In 2019 the city attempted to shut off water to 8,490 properties," Ó Súilleabháin said. 

PPG Buffalo used 2019 data, because it was the last full year before pandemic-era programs would have influenced water affordability or water debt data. 

According to the study, the city successfully shut off water to 2,518 properties — all because of non-payment to Buffalo Water. 

"The median amount owed was just over $1,000, but about half of the properties owed less than $1,000, and something that really struck us in the data and in looking at these shutoffs was that about 400 homes had multiple shutoffs in the year," Ó Súilleabháin said.

PPG also discovered in its study that the Masten District had the highest rate of water shutoffs, a rate of 44 properties for every 1,000. 
The other issue highlighted in the study is water affordability. 

"Buffalo water has increased their rates five times since 2006, the most recent in October 2024, and all across the country we see that water rates are going up faster than people's incomes are going up,"  Ó Súilleabháin said. 

According to the report, a household of four paid $755 a year for water. 

"Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia have put in plans for Income Based Payment, really tailored to what does your household make, what percent is reasonable to spend on your water, and Buffalo hasn't done that yet," Ó Súilleabháin said.

Buffalo Water is managed by the multinational corporation Veolia. In 2020, the city approved a 10-year contract with the company to continue managing the water system to the tune of $7.8 million per year.  

"We are calling for restoring local control of Buffalo Water," Ó Súilleabháin said. "Surveys around the U.S. have found that 18 municipalities that did take back management of the water actually reduce costs by 21% on average, so it's not a small cost reduction, it's a major cost reduction to customers."

The Partnership for the Public Good is also calling on Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon to institute a moratorium on water shutoffs, now that pandemic-era programs and moratoriums have expired.

"We can take steps to make water more equitable and affordable in Buffalo, Mayor Scanlon can make this data transparent," Ó Súilleabháin said. "He could also make official that there will not be water shutoffs in Buffalo, and they should really open a conversation of how can we forgive some of this water debt now, if that rescue plan funding is gone."