• UCLA Human Right to Water Solutions Lab

    Supporting policy and advocacy, civic engagement, and leadership development solutions to advance the Human Right to Water across the United States

Our Approach

  • We advance fundamental research on the breadth and depth of solutions in each aspect of the Human Right to Water (HRW): affordability, quality and accessibility.
  • We make data and training resources collected or generated through our research more publicly available, usable and relevant.
  • We provide practical support and amplify the efforts of community, scholarly and policy partners in advancing HRW solutions.
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Ongoing and Future Efforts

While we will continue partnerships with state agencies, we also intend to scale up advising to interested civic partners at all levels across the U.S.

We welcome direct feedback, prompts or partnership concepts from community-based and environmental justice organizations, agencies and the broader public. Submit your ideas using the form below.

Based on community concerns, we launched a Premise Plumbing Working Group in 2018. The group identifies causes of urban tap water distrust in the U.S., especially in under-served communities, and advances affordable solutions. Representation in the group includes academia, regulators, utilities, municipalities, local and statewide non-profits, and plumbers. More information on current projects and publicly-available resources generated from our effort can be found here.

We recently worked with collaborators at Oxford, UC Davis and UNC Chapel-Hill to publish an article in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, which examines the prevalence and effectiveness of four different solution types to address household drinking water affordability in the United States. We also continue to partner on water justice scholarship with colleagues at the Household Water Insecurity Experiences – Research Coordination Network, and welcome additional scholarly collaborations.

The 2025 Southern California Community Water Systems Atlas

Community water systems are the fundamental building blocks of California’s drinking water supply. However, who governs these systems — and how they are managed — has a direct impact on whether communities have access to safe, affordable, and reliable water, as well as their ability to adapt to drought and climate change. Developed in collaboration with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, The 2025 Southern California Community Water Systems Atlas expands the scope of earlier UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation studies to cover not just Los Angeles County, but 663 systems across six counties: Los Angeles, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura. Together, these utilities serve 40 percent of California’s population. The report and companion mapping tool provide the most comprehensive public resource on water systems, shedding light on disparities in water quality, affordability, governance, and climate resilience.

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Recent Projects and News

Water and Wastewater Affordability Solutions

Making the Most of Landmark Recycled Water Investments in Los Angeles

Technical Advisory Recommendations for the Region

Tap Water Quality and Distrust in Los Angeles County

Strategies to address premise plumbing
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Support the Lab

Your donation helps support solutions to advance safe, clean and affordable drinking water across the nation.

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Collaborate With Us

We welcome direct feedback, prompts or partnership concepts from community-based and environmental justice organizations, agencies and the broader public.